Fairy Tail: Cracked Walls
by EyesThatShine
Summary: Sex can represent many things - love, lust, passion. But to Lucy and Natsu, it was merely a distraction. A distraction from broken hearts, and broken pasts. With them hooking up, Natsu and Lucy used sex to hide their pain... but what will happen when one of them decides to stop running, and finally comes out to the world on a talk show, revealing her emotional baggage?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Where It All Began**

It was almost ten in the morning - there was a bunch of people moving around backstage making sure everything was ready for the conference. Lucy was isolated in her dressing room, getting her makeup done for the camera, making sure her face was camera and light ready for the recording. She had a makeup artist with her, and as she was putting on the last bit of bronzer on her outer cheekbone, Lucy pulled out her headphones and began to play a song on one of her playlist. It was a song she hadn't listened to in a long time - in a year, to be exact. She closed her eyes, and tilted her head back as the makeup artist put on the last little bit of lip-gloss on Lucy to finish up her look. She had ten minutes before she had to face the crowd, as the artist had reminded her.

 _I'm loving the pain_

 _I never wanna live without it_

 _So why, do I try_

 _You drive me insane_

 _And now we're screaming just to see who's louder_

 _Sp why, do I try_

She didn't open her eyes to acknowledge her - she didn't even hear her. She was far too occupied listening through her earbuds. Lucy was someone who loved analyzing the lyrics to a song, however, today was different. Instead of paying attention to the lyrics, she paid attention to the singers. Each unique voice gave her goosebumps all over her arms - she hadn't felt like this in a long time. It didn't even matter that it was a breakup-song; every single harmony made her smile. Lucy was almost completely in her own world, until a knock approached her door, indicating that she had to be on stage in about a minute.

As Lucy left her dressing room and made her way to the _Hanashimashou_ stage, she felt an overwhelming sense of stage fright while passing through all the people backstage. She didn't know how she was going to start, where she was going to go with it, and if she should even tell an entire auditorium of people what she was planning to. ALl those thoughts kept piling on her head, but Lucy tried her best to rid them from her mind. She chose to do this, she was missing a day of school for this, but most importantly - she was doing this for herself. She needed this, and she also needed to do it for them. She couldn't retreat this moment; it would be pointless, and it would be an injustice.

Lucy took the first few steps from the back, and made it onto the stage, where she was greeted with a roaring applause. Lucy made her way to the center of the stage, waving at smiling to people, as they kept cheering. People who didn't know her - who have never heard of the name _Lucy Heartfilia_ \- were greeting like her as if she was someone that people would remember. Lucy kept smiling at everyone, as the applause died down, and she finally began to speak. "Hello everyone! Thank you for having me on _Hanashimashou_!"

…

It was a Friday morning, and Class 12-C in Magnolia High School were preparing to begin their lesson in English… however, their teacher, Miss Mirajane Strauss, always puts on the show _Hanashimashou_ on as a treat for the students, and she did this every Friday. While the students took their places in the classroom, Lisanna - who was near the back row - turned to face Natsu - who sat right beside her on the left - in her seat, and asked, "Hey Natsu, what are you doing tonight?"

"Hmm," he thought for a moment as he sat his backpack down on the floor and took his seat, "I don't know. I don't think I have any plans. Why?"

"I just thought…" Lisanna began to say while combing her short white hair with her hands, "Maybe you could come over? I'm sure Mira wouldn't mind!" Miss Strauss also happened to be Lisanna's older sister.

"I guess, sure." Natsu said, while trying to force a smile. Lisanna returned his smile, as she began to unpacked her bag, Natsu glanced out the window his desk was next to, He let out a long sigh, and started observing the leaves ruffling in the wind. _Why am I doing this,_ he asked himself as he leaned his cheek against his palm, and later placed his hand over his head - bathing in self disappointment. _I can't believe I did this to her… but, she probably didn't even care. We were never meant to be more than what we were._

However, he just leans back in his seat, ignoring the retreating thoughts in his head. He was later interrupted by Gray, who scared him as he snuck up to him.

"Hey Flame Brain, what's up?" Gray chuckled as he clawed both of his hands on Natsu's shoulders, scaring him nearly to death. "Not day dreaming again, are you?"

"Okay, Ice Princess…" Natsu cracked his knuckles as he got out of his seat to face the raven-haired boy behind him, "DO NOT EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN OR YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Oh, come on Gray, " a blue-haired girl named Juvia followed closely behind Gray as she chuckled. "Leave Natsu alone, or you'll both be expelled from this school by noon!"

"She's got a point, you know." Elfman, Lisanna's older brother added, as he placed himself in the seat in front of Lisanna, just after gently ruffling her hair. Shortly after Gray and Juvia took their seats, the rest of the gang - including Lyon, Sting, Loke, Rogue, Gajeel, and Levi - soon took their places in the classroom around the group of students. Natsu irritatingly sat back in his seat, looking pissed off.

"Hey guys, who do you think will be on _Hanashimashou_ this time?" Sting asked eagerly as he took a seat behind Natsu before bumping fists with him.

"I don't know, but it's always someone who is weird in the best of ways." Rogue, Sting's fraternal twin brother, exclaims as he took an empty seat next to Sting, and behind Lisanna.

"Remember that guy who came on the show responding to scam emails? That was the best thing ever!"

Levi laughed at Rogue's remark as she took the seat on the right side of him, "Remember the guy that kept asking the scammer for a free toaster? I actually kind of felt bad for them! I mean, I'd be annoyed out of my life."

"Whatever, man." Gajeel grunted as he placed himself in front of Levi, and on the right of Elfman. "Scammers are lowlifes. They can rot to the core for all I care." Levi giggled at what Gajeel had to say, proving to all the girls who have fallen in love, that they will laugh at all their boyfriends' remarks… no matter what the remark is.

"I hope they bring that hot model on again!" Loke piped excitedly as he sat next to Levi on the far back right end of the classroom. "Damn, was she fine!"

That statement was greeted with a smack on Loke's head from Lyon, who took one of the last available spot in front of Loki, "Oh would you grow up already? You still sound like a twelve-year old who just hit puberty. And Ashley Graham is way too hot for you, so don't even bother fantasizing about her." Groaning, Loke crossed his arms, annoyed.

Everyone in the gang found a place to sit in the classroom, and that was when Miss Strauss entered the classroom with her white locks falling down her shoulders. She made her way towards her desk, and smiled to her class, "Hello everyone, Happy Friday!" She gave out a quick wave to her two siblings, who returned it, as she went to sit in front of her computer. "Since today is Friday, we're watching another _Hanashimashou_ live stream! I wonder who's coming to the conference to talk this time…"

As Miss Strauss was looking up the website to put on the livestream, Levi glanced at the corner of the room, where the only remaining desk left right in front of Lyon, and her usual infectious grin turned into concern and uncomfortableness. "Hey, you guys… where is Lucy?"

The back row where the gang was sitting all went silent - including Natsu. They all knew Lucy had never missed a day of school, and even though she hadn't been the same in the last few weeks, but nonetheless her record was flawless… until today. Sting and Rogue looked at each other, Lyon sat in his seat and ran through the thoughts in his head, Gray crossed his arms while Juvia had a worried expression on her face, Gajeel sighed roughly and Loke pushed his glasses in place as he faced down on his table. Natsu placed both of his hands over his forehead, and Lisanna was able to catch it. She let her eyes fall on her table as well, as she tried distracting herself. She was tired of all her friends - especially her boyfriend - obsessing over the blonde bimbo. She didn't understand what was so special about her anyway; she hadn't been in Magnolia High for one school year, and all of a sudden… everyone is in love with her - including her own man. Lisanna was aware Natsu and her had a "thing", however she tried her best not to let it get to her.

"Aha! I got it!" Miss Strauss exclaimed happily, as she pulled up the webpage for the video to load so the live stream could be properly broadcasted. The video was finally done processing, and the audio signalled a loud applause for this week's guest. But nobody could have prepared themselves for the guest that would be speaking for the next hour.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for having me on _Hanashimashou_!"

The entire room went silent, while the audio continued blasting. Everyone in the classroom - including Miss Strauss - was in complete and utter shock when they saw a familiar looking blonde on the screen, speaking to a large group of people, and in front of many other people watching online. There were a mix of gasps, people covering their mouths in shock, stares at the screen - including from the gang, who knew this girl better than anyone. But when Natsu saw her on the screen... he froze.

 _Lucy…_

…

"I know that none of you know who I am…" Lucy began to address the crowd, who were now in silence following the introduction, "... and I know that generally, people who aren't exactly established or haven't really made a positive difference in society aren't invited on this show."

Lucy paced across the floor, as she was speaking, indirectly captivating the audience. "You may not know who I am… but I'm sure you know who these girls are." Lucy was holding a small remote in her hand that was given to her by the slide show crew before she got on stage, and she turned to the screen right behind her that was working as a background, and she pulled up a picture of four girls posed together. One of the girls had short white hair with big beautiful brown eyes - resembling Lisanna quite a bit in appearance, and the other two girls looked as if they were related - with bright strawberry red-coloured hair, with one of them having blue eyes and the other having brown. The last girl, placed closer to the center, had light brown hair, and bright blue eyes. Each girl looked confidently beautiful with flashing smiles, as they posed together as if they were having the best time of their lives. "Does anyone know who they are?" Lucy asked out towards the crowd.

"Those are the girls that were in that music group, Fairy Tail!" An audience member called out from the back row.

Nodding her head in approval, Lucy kept on speaking to the crowd, "That's right. These are the girls from the girl group, Fairy Tail. A very successful group of girls who made quite the mark in the Japanese music industry." Lucy sighed, as she continued pacing the stage. "Now, can anyone remember what happened to this group?"

There was an initial silence across the audience, but soon enough, someone else in the audience called out, "I think… wait, there was a car accident on the news that talked about the girls. I believe three of them died in the hospital, and the brunette was left in a coma."

Lucy nodded her head again, and gave a half smile to the crowd as she stood still for a moment. "Yes, three out of the four girls in this picture have since passed away due to a terrible and horrendous car accident a little over a year ago. Three beautiful and talented girls with so much potential had their lives taken away from them due to this accident. And, one of them was left in a coma. Does anyone know how the surviving member is doing?"

There were a series of murmurs that were scattered, but nobody came forward with a legitimate answer. After waiting for a few moments, Lucy broke the small discussions. "Well, I can tell you how she's doing, based off of what I've seen. She's alive." Lucy said as she clasped her hands as she kept speaking. "She's alive, and she's doing…. Well, she's doing… not so well."

The crowd went deadly silent this time - so silent, a pin could be heard from backstage. "She's been suffering quite a bit. She's been suffering for the last year now, ever since she woke up from the coma. She lost three people that were extremely important to her, and I don't know about any of you…" she said as she turned around to face the entire audience, "... but that would've been devastating and horrific for anybody. She felt alone, isolated, secluded, and felt as if she had no real person to confide to."

"However..." Lucy continued, "... she started meeting some friends who accepted her, and cared for her. They listened to her, and they tried their very best to make her happy. She also had her grandfather, who loved her to pieces, and would do anything for her. She had also met someone extremely special who she grew to care for… a lot. She had so much support around her to help her get back on the right track - and she knew that, however, she didn't take any of it. She didn't talk to anyone, and she didn't open up to anyone about what she was going through. She knew she wasn't alone, but she still felt increasingly isolated." The audience was paying extremely close attention to every word Lucy was saying, as if she had captivated them in a way they never have been before. "However, after observing her for that entire year, I've been able to figure out why she couldn't bring herself to talk."

Lucy took a deep breath, and finally said, "The reason she wasn't able to talk… was because she wasn't able to accept what had happened that night, and also because she blamed herself for the deaths of her dear friends, by being the only survivor. Through the entire year, she would always wonder why she didn't die with them? _It wasn't fair that their lives were taken and I was left on this planet to live. I should be dead too._ This type of thinking held her back in spades."

The crowd of people in the auditorium's eyes dropped to the floor, as they could probably feel some of the hurt and pain that was coming through the speech. "You can fill the tank of a car with fuel, you can wash it, you can vacuum the interior, you can even change the tires. But if you don't use that key to start the engine, that car won't go anywhere. That was the most important thing this girl was missing - a key to start the engine to her recovery. Support from others mean nothing… if you are not willing to help yourself."

Lucy let off a sad smile, and she walked towards a stool that held a water bottle. She took the water bottle off the stool, put it on the ground, and sat on the stool. She glanced at the people in front of her, and closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them. "And you know what… if she figured that out eleven and a half months ago… she wouldn't be here sharing her story with all of you."

* * *

 **Song featured in this story: Why Try by Ariana Grande**

 **Hanashimashou** **: "let's talk" in Japanese**

 **Remember to review! xo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: The Accident**

 _"And you know what… if she figured that out eleven and a half months ago… she wouldn't be here sharing her story with all of you."_

Every single head in the classroom - including Miss Strauss's head - shot up as soon as Lucy uttered those words. Every single pair of eyes shot open wide and were glued to the screen. Every single jaw was wide open, after that statement went through every single person's ears. It was as if they were told someone had been incinerated. Lexi turned her head to face Lyon, who sat, with an expression of shock-horror. Her eyes closed for a few moments as she shook her head. Rogue placed his hand on Sting's shoulder as he pressed his forehead against his fingers, dumbfounded. He then raised his head up to look in front of him, and saw Natsu leaned back on his seat. Lisanna noticed the horrid expression in his face - as if everything he was told in the past was a lie and he was just finding it out for the first time.

"There's no way…" Lyon whispered, as he turned to Loke behind, "I couldn't even -"

"Neither could I." Sting interrupted Lyon, as his eyes fell on his desk.

…

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and I'm the surviving member of Fairy Tail." Lucy confessed to a dumbstruck crowd, who were either murmuring to each other, banging their heads against their hands, or just looking around the crowd not sure what to do. Lucy watched them for a minute, as if she expected a reaction like this. She sighed, as she took a sip out of the water bottle and cleared her throat. "It's been a year since the girls had died, and for that entire year, I've been on a roller coaster ride going through life."

Lucy crossed her ankles, and pressed her palms on the edge of the stool, facing the audience with an unusually confident expression, "I know, the expression is overused. People always say their life is a roller coaster. But most times, there's a good chance that's not the case. My life has truly been up, down, and confusing in the last year. I felt overjoyed at certain moments, and then there was the time I almost killed myself. There were times where I genuinely felt like there was someone I could turn to, and then there was the time I pushed every single one of them away cause I just didn't know what to do. All within a year."

Lucy sighed, and folded her arms. "However, I'm going to start from the beginning. I'm going to talk about the accident, and the exact moment my life went to hell. The exact moment I discovered I was all alone, and also, the exact moment I changed myself completely to make sure that part of me no longer existed."

...

 _*One Year Ago*_

Sting and Lyon were waiting - they could either be waiting for the good news, or bracing themselves for the worst news possible. The building was noisy, the ambulances were loud, and people were yelling at each other, trying to get the girls into an emergency room to try and save their lives. The police didn't have a lot so far, but it was a drunk-driving incident.

Some guy drinking one too many bottles of vodka couldn't tell the difference between a red and a green light, and rammed right into another car, trying to drive across the crossroads.

The police confirmed the guy to be dead on the spot, but the girls were rushed to the nearest hospital to be treated immediately. Sting and Lyon - being the second closest thing they had to family - were called and informed about the accident.

"Yukino's going to be okay, Sting.." Lyon said, with obvious doubt in his tone, while trying to hold out the tiniest bit of optimism. "Yukino, Sherry, Sherria, and Lucy are all going to come out alright. They have to…"

Sting didn't say anything - it looked as if he couldn't. He had called Rogue, but with the traffic jam outside the crime scene was delaying his arrival time substantially. The news had yet to cover the story, as they were probably waiting for a status update on the girls. They have been in the emergency room for two hours, and there was no update. The boys hadn't eaten for hours, but they couldn't stomach anything even if they tried. Despite holding out that little bit of hope, they were secretly bracing themselves to hear the worst. The accident happened to be extremely brutal.

The boys were forced to wait another hour and a half as the surgeons were trying to save the girls. After the hour and a half, much to Sting and Lyon's devastation, the surgeons that were in the operation room had come out to break the news about Yukino's and Sherry's death. The surgeon had also notified them that Sherria wasn't going to make it either. Sting was about to hit the floor, but was able to stand due to the fact that he was holding onto Lyon's shoulder, and Lyon wasn't able to react at all. They knew the chances of the girls surviving wasn't likely… however, no one could ever be completely prepared to confront a death. Lyon and Sting had walked away, not acknowledging the surgeon any longer just before he was preparing to tell them about Lucy.

She was in a coma for four weeks - she had slept the state-held funeral service for the girls. Lyon and Sting hadn't come to visit her, and they didn't bother checking up on her condition. The only person that did keep tabs on Lucy's well-being was her grandfather, who visited the hospital every day to get a status update on her condition. When Lucy had finally woken up from the coma, she was taken in by Grandpa to live with him, instead of going back to the apartment she had shared with the girls.

"You have to do something about that apartment, Lucy." Grandpa mentioned to Lucy during dinner, hours after she had been discharged from the hospital. Lucy shook her head, without making eye contact, and barely touching her salad.

"But, how are you -

"Grandpa, the money we get… got…. from Spotify will pay the rent." Lucy interrupted, as she took a sip of her water. "I'm not staying here forever - I'm just going to let you know that right now. I'll move back when the time is right."

Grandpa folded his arms, looking extremely disapproving of the decision she had made. "You're going to live in that apartment all by yourself?"

Lucy sighed, "If I have to, yea."

Life wasn't going to be the same - anyone could predict that. However, Lucy's attempt to go back to carrying out the basic things she had always done before without wanting to kill herself didn't go in her favour. There was only a month and a half left of the junior year at Fiore Composite, and in the weeks she had been caged away from reality, rumours spread like wildfire - the kind of rumours that damage one's dignity the more they go around.

 _Who survives a crash like that without getting her skull crushed? Hah, she definitely set this up._

 _Did she really hate her friends that much?_

 _I wonder how much she bribed that poor guy to kill himself just to kill her friends… I mean, even if she bribed him, would it matter? He's dead. That's so dumb…and sad…_

She had no control over the situation - Lucy could do nothing to shut them down. No one would believe her anyway; everyone already had a set opinion on what they thought of Lucy, and because of that, she was being attacked on a regular basis. She was isolated from everyone - she had nobody to confide to, and no one she could share her side of the story with. She wanted to tell someone it wasn't her fault… but, no one would, because no one wanted to listen to what she had to say. She would get pushed into lockers, tripped in hallways, pushed off of chairs, and no one helped her. Sting and Lyon never once came by to check up on her, her grades here slipping due to the emotional abuse she was facing in school, and she had turned to smoking weed to help her cope with everything - including the deaths of Yukino, Sherry, and Sherria. Once the school year ended, her summer continued as a constant droning of emotions and pain.

"I'm switching to Magnolia High for my senior year, Grandpa." Lucy exclaimed as she looked agitating through the documents she had to fill in order to transfer her credits, her marks, and her personal information to the new school.

"Why though?" Grandpa asked, confused and frustrated, as he stood by her bedroom door watching her sort through the documents frantically.

"Because…" Lucy's fists began to clench and her voice was audibly shivering, "... because I can't… I can't FRICKING TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Screaming at the top of her lungs, and scaring her Grandpa, Lucy got off her study table chair and collapsed to the floor, sobbing. Grandpa ran over to her, and held her as she continued crying, not slowing down even a little bit. "I can't walk through those doors again, getting attacked, verbally abused, accused of things I had no part of! I just can't do it again - not anymore! Grandpa… I just... I JUST CAN'T!"

"Okay, sweetheart…" Grandpa reassures her as he hugged her and stroked her hair, trying to calm her down just a little bit, "You can switch to Magnolia High, I'll support you on that." He could understand the pain she was going through, just by hearing the agony in her voice. She wasn't just dealing with the deaths of the three most important people in her life… she was being harassed by people who didn't care about what she had been through already. Grandpa noticed she had calmed down a little, and he left the room to let her finish the paperwork, and left her be for a little while.

Lucy continued sitting on the floor, rubbing her eyes to dry her tears furiously. They open again, and they fell on the black guitar that sat right in front of her, against the wall. She eyed it, like it was the devil. She got up, reached for the guitar, and she left the room with it in her hand. She made her way in the backyard of her house continuing to hold on to the guitar. Once she went outside, she held the guitar in both of her hands, brought it over her head, and smashed it on the concrete pathway. The guitar broke apart vigorously - strings flying everywhere. Shreds of material spread across the concrete path.

True agony has the power to destroy the depths of love - no matter how throbbing and real.

* * *

 **My reviewers: Simin-chan, xXWannabeXx, bloodRayneee, dynamitelol, and to my guest reviewer, Ana-chan!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: New Look, New School, and First Party**

"The decision to switch schools would be difficult for a lot of people, as they would've held fond memories of the school. I mean, you meet your friends there, you grow together, and you share experiences together." Lucy had gotten off the stool and continued pacing the stage, trying to focus the audience's attention to her. "However, for me, the decision was easy. My old school reminded me of a cinder block prison that I'd dread to go everyday, only to be relieved to return home after the long day was over. I was going through a lot as it is, and having to suffer the constant abuse was too much. There was one night where… one of my panic attacks transitioned into a full-on mental breakdown. It was one of the worst moments of that dreadful summer."

Lucy sighed, and wiped a tear that she had noticed flowing down her cheek. "Something else I had realized, was the fact that I had barely thought of the girls. I kept telling myself I was going through so much, with their deaths... but was I? I couldn't bring myself to miss them, I couldn't bring myself to bring back the good memories we shared, and I couldn't even look at a guitar. I broke it, because I couldn't stand to see it there. Music was one thing that had brought us together, but now, I saw music as something I couldn't stand to be near. And it was hard, because music used to be what I'd breathe, live, and do everyday. It brought us together... and I felt as if I lost that."

…

" _Is this a permanent colour?"_

" _As long as you don't dye your hair with another colour, it'll stay just as it is."_

Facing the mirror, Lucy had just bleached her hair, and was beginning to dye her hair with a shade of blonde. Her natural brown locks were no longer in existence - in fact, she looked nothing like she used to. She ran her fingers through her now seemingly straightened bleached hair, untying any knots that were present. She spent another hour putting the new shade of colour into her hair, attempting to marble the broken pieces of her shattered emotions with a fresh coat.

After letting the dye sit, and washing it off, she unwrapped the towel that was on her head, and presented her new hair to her in her bedroom mirror. Straight, blonde, and unrecognizable from her former self, Lucy seemed satisfied with the end result. _If I'm going to go to a different school, it might be in my best interest to not have anyone recognize me,_ Lucy thought to herself, as she tended to the paperwork on her table that she needed present on her first day tomorrow. She felt a sense of relief at terror in the same moment. She was about to escape the horrors that she had induced, but she worried of being recognized despite the makeover she had given herself. Shrugging it off, she proceeded to gather everything else she had needed to start her day tomorrow, until she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Lucy, I'm home from -' Grandpa took one straight glance at Lucy and he could no longer finish his sentence. "What in the world did you do to your hair?!"

"I did what every girl does at least once in their lifetime." Lucy said with a flat, monotone voice as if wasn't a very big of an issue to fuss over. Grandpa shook his head in disbelief, but decided not to argue with her further. He left her room, leaving her to finish organizing all her papers and materials.

After she finished packing her backpack, and gathering all her documents in a secure folder, Lucy hit the lights and tried to sleep for the night. Her attempts to shut her eyes failed, as she kept twisting and turning in her mattress. Not having her friends with her took so much of a toll on her, she was no longer able to cry over them. She couldn't visit their graves, or even look at their pictures. She no longer watched the videos they had made together, the songs they sang together, or even acknowledge they existed for that matter. She could no longer look back at the memories they had together, and she no longer had the capability to miss them.

...

Lucy didn't know what to expect when she entered the doors to her new school, but what she didn't expect was for people to not come up to her as scream _Oh my goodness, you're that girl from Fairy Tail!_ She was relieved, however, that she wasn't recognized by the sea of students that were walking back and forth down the hallways. Paperwork in hand, Lucy tried navigating herself to the front office among the sea of kids, until she bumped face first into a blue-haired girl.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" she asked, reaching her hand towards the stumbled Lucy, who had her paperwork scattered around the ground. Lucy didn't take her hand, and proceeded to gather the paperwork back into the folder before anyone put footprints on them. The blue haired student had a guilty expression on her face as Lucy got up on her own. "I'm so sorry I bumped into you…"

Lucy sighed, "It's alright, don't worry about it." She paused for a minute, "Umm, actually, do you think you can lead me to the principle's office?"

Nodding elatedly, Juvia grabbed Lucy's hand and began to lead the way of where she wanted to go. Lucy, not knowing how to react, clenched onto the paperwork and allowed the student to lead the way. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."

Lucy nodded, "Yea, I transferred before the end of the last school year." she said as they passed through student after student to the office.

"My name is Juvia," the girl exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Welcome to Magnolia High!"

"My name is Lucy…" she said, trying to fake the same sense of enthusiasm Juvia was omitting, however, failing miserably. After a few minutes, Juvia had taken her to the Office and had introduced her to Principal Makarov Dreyar and Vice Principal Erza Scarlet. Juvia waited outside the doors and left Lucy to take care of the documents she had filled up, including all her information and her transcripts from her previous school. After receiving her uniform and course schedule, Lucy exited the Office, and was greeted by Juvia's warm energetic smile.

"Hey! You got your schedule, right? Tell me, what do you have first block!" Lucy handed her schedule to Juvia so she could take a glance at it, while Lucy went towards the bathroom that was sitting near the office to change into her uniform. After she came back, wearing her blue and white blazer and skirt, she was greeted with, "Hey, I have first block Chemistry with you! This is perfect!"

Lucy nodded, as Juvia and herself walked together to Chemistry - which was taught by a teacher named Jellal Fernandez. As they were walking, Juvia filled Lucy in with all she needed to know about Magnolia High, the teachers, the events, and also, the other students. "The only class that I only have you with is Chemistry, however, I think you have Calculus with Natsu! He's great, I'm sure you guys will be friends! Semesters here are five months long, because we only have two semesters at this school."

As Lucy was listening to Juvia ramble on about her friends, she felt a sense of dizziness that wasn't associated with illness. Hearing Juvia speak didn't come off as annoying, or even frustrating to Lucy - it made her sad. Lucy tried to suck up that feeling by putting on a fake mask of excitement, however, it started taking a toll after a little while. "Hey, you alright?"

Nodding vigorously, Lucy reassured, "Yea, I'm alright." They had reached the Chemistry classroom, and was greeted by Mr. Fernandez as soon as they entered the doors.

"Ms. Heartfilia, it's nice to have a fresh face in the school, " the chemistry teacher beamed with an easy flow to his voice, releasing some of the tension Lucy had been building up over the course of coming to the school. "I've seen your pre-requisite standings in Chemistry 20, and I'm sure you can manage this course without too many problems."

After her small meeting with Mr. Fernandez, Juvia took Lucy to the center of the seating arrangement, where two free desks were present. Class had begun shortly after, and as hard as Lucy tried to pay attention to remotely anything Mr. Fernandez was saying, she couldn't bring herself to do so. Staring blankly at her notebook, she wandered her eyes to everyone that was surrounding her. Not once was she knocked off of seats, not once was she harassed, and no once was she pushed against a locker and left on the ground crying. _Why am I still upset…?_ Lucy kept repeating that question over and over in her head, without coming anywhere near a conclusion. She felt stiff, and her eyes started to droop. Forcing herself to open them, Lucy tried her best to get through the class without being called out for sleeping during the lecture.

Once the bell had rung, Juvia walked over to her table, and asked Lucy as she was putting away her handouts, "Hey, there's going to be a house party tonight; it's a tradition to hold parties whenever a new year in Magnolia High starts. You should come! You can meet some of my friends!"

"I… don't know.." Lucy said hesitantly, as she placed her backpack over her shoulders, " I'm not much of a party person." Lying through her teeth, Lucy smiled at Juvia in hopes of pushing her away.

"Oh come on! It'll be great for you!" Juvia persuaded as hard as she could possibly can. "I'm sure you don't want to go through ten months of high school with only having me to talk to."

 _Yes, actually, Yes I would._ But Lucy knew she couldn't tell Juvia that. She'd start asking Lucy for a reason, and Lucy didn't have time to come up with an elaborate and convincing lie to cover up her real reasons. Hesitantly, Lucy finally agreed, "Okay, sure." Excited, Juvia gave Lucy a tight but short hug - without receiving a hug back - and left the classroom for her next course, leaving Lucy to wonder what just happened.

The rest of the day was quiet and reserved for Lucy. She had met all her teachers for all the courses she had, but she was never active during classes. It was almost as if she didn't have a voice, therefore she didn't exist. Nobody came up to talk to her - nobody even took the time to greet her and welcome her to the school besides Juvia. However, she didn't mind it one bit. She wanted to be left alone, and she wanted to blend into the lockers and not get noticed. _It's the one way I won't be recognized for sure._ It was the end of the day, and as Lucy was walking through the hallways along the other students to find her locker, she found Juvia waiting for her near one of the water fountains outside of Lucy's locker. She let out a short wave, which Lucy reciprocated with a short smile. Lucy walked towards her locker, and Juvia had her hands together as she said, "Hey, here's an idea! Why don't you come over to my place and we can get ready together?"

Lucy jerked back as she proceeded to put her books away, "Umm... you know, we just met. Wouldn't your parents mind if I just showed up at your house?"

Shaking her head, Juvia reassured Lucy, "They'd be thrilled to meet you! Take this as a 'Welcome to Magnolia High' present!"

"I don't know..." Lucy murmured in between her breath as she strapped her backpack onto her shoulders. After she had locked her locker, and faced Juvia, the guilt that came from seeing Juvia's saddened expression lead Lucy to say, "Oh alright, let me just call my Grandpa so that I can tell him where I'll be." And it had immediately brightened up Juvia's face to what is usually was - vibrant.

Moving to the corner of the locker row, Lucy flipped out her phone, dialled her grandfather's number and waited for a response. Once she received one, she said, "Hey, is it okay if I go out tonight? A girl I met at the school wants to show me around this part of the town."

 _"Right now? You're not coming home? I thought we could go out for dinner and -"_

"We can reschedule that. She really wants me to go, and she's been nice to me. I really don't want to say no to her."

 _"Okay... but do you know how long you'll be out, cause I don't want you to -_

"I don't really know, but I'll try to be back home as soon as possible. Take the day off Grandpa. You deserve it. And don't stay up too late, alright?"

Before she could hear a response, Lucy had hung up and closed her phone. She went back to her locker, and was greeted by Juvia's eager expression. "Yea, we're good to go."

...

"I absolutely love that on you!" Juvia exclaimed, after Lucy had tried on one of her navy blue tops. Juvia's closet consisted of a lot of blue, with the occasional teal, turquoise, white, and black. However, some of those other colours appeared to be untouched. Juvia had already picked out her look, which included a striped light blue and white dress, which had complimented her hair very well. Lucy, on the other hand, was struggling to find a blue that complimented her as well as it complimented Juvia.

"Well..." Lucy relied, unsure, "I think these clothes look better on you than they do me." Lucy had reached to her backpack, and pulled out the ordinary looking jeans and black T-Shirt she had worn to her new school before changing into her uniform. "I could just wear - "

Before Lucy could begin to say another word, Juvia sternly grabbed the clothes from Lucy, and threw them on her bed - much to Lucy's shocked expression. "Oh no, there is no way I'm letting you walk to the party looking like that! I know there is something here that will look good on you!"

Juvia got off her bed, and started digging through her closet. She searched for a while, going through blue t-shirts, blue skirts, blue blazers, and blue high-heels, and tossing them aside. She found a box that was hidden at the corner of the closet, and once she opened it...

"Aha! This is perfect for you!"

…

The party 'venue' wan't large, however, that didn't stop a large number of people showing up. It was at someone's house, however, neither Lucy or Juvia knew who's place it was. The outfit that Juvia had found for Lucy was in fact perfect - Lucy was surprised Juvia even had this in her closet. A black jacket over a white embroidered tank top, followed by torn gray jeans with high boots. Lucy's makeup was freshly done - as this was her first time wearing a smokey-eye. She also had a muddy-pink shade on her lips, bringing out her brown eyes. Lucy was never one to wear dresses, so an outfit like this was right up her comfort zone.

Juvia had taken her to the patio - where it was even more crowded - as she wanted to introduce Lucy to her boyfriend. Lucy had wondered why Juvia would've invited her over when she could've attended the party with her boyfriend, but she kept that to herself.

"Babe! There you are!" A raven - haired boy turned around and hugged Juvia before planting a kiss on her cheek. His eyes matched his hair, and he had a white T-shirt on with black baggy jeans. _Why can't I stick to something plain and simple like that..._ Lucy ran the thought through her head. "Lucy, this is Gray! He goes to school with us, we just never have the same classes."

After Lucy and Gray had shaken hands, Juvia turned towards him, and asked, "Is anyone else here tonight?"

"Well," Gray said as he paused to think of the names, "I think I saw Rogue talking to some girl at the balcony, and I think Levy and Gajeel are making out somewhere in the building."

Lucy wanted to gag, however, Juvia replaced her horrid expression with a soft giggle, "Oh those two lovebirds!" And after pausing for half a second, Juvia asked, "What about Sting and Lyon?"

It took those five words to make Lucy's head shoot up like a bullet - faster than a lightning bolt. Hearing those names shot as hard as lightning also, as she didn't want to believe what she was hearing. Sting and Lyon... went to Magnolia High... and she had no way of knowing. They completely forgot about her during her hospitalization, not coming to visit her once. Lucy placed her eyes back on the floor - not wanting Juvia or Gray to see her distraught face. "They didn't come tonight. They haven't gone anywhere since... you know..."

After Gray informed her, Juvia went silent for a minute, despite the blaring noise. In fact, she didn't notice Lucy as she excused herself to the bar, making her way back inside, and away from the two.

 _Why now?_ Lucy screamed inside her thoughts as she wiped the tears that began to flow down her face, _why am I crying now?_ Frustration took over her, as she made her way to the bar, and paid for a beer. Using a bottle opener, she sat on the stool, and chugged half of it. Continuing to wipe her flowing tears that seemed to go endless, and not caring about the endless stream of people that were potentially watching her, she kept taking sip after sip after sip. When the bottle was finished, she allowed her hand to cover her temple, as she cried to herself silently. The pain she felt was overwhelming - and it happened by hearing the names of the two people that she felt had betrayed her. She was so occupied with her running thoughts, she didn't realize the peering eyes coming towards her from the other side of the bar.

"Ma'am, here's your Smirnoff."

Surprised, Lucy's eyes widened as she eyed the glass with the Smirnoff, and shot them straight to the bartender, "But, I didn't order one."

He nodded, but instead of saying _'My bad',_ he said, "It was from the guy sitting across of you."

The bartender left Lucy in astonishment, however, she was tempted more than ever, Who was this guy, and why would he order her a drink? She turned her head to the left, slowly, and her eyes were met with the most unusual shade of pink she had ever seen on someone's hair. He was looking away at first, but when his head moved, his eyes met hers.

* * *

 **Shoutouts to reviewers: Morenoel, MidnightCeleste, Simin-chan, xXWannabeXx, Ana-chan, dynamitelol, my guest reviewer Ija, amd my good friend GalaxyVisionary! You guys are amazing, and thank you for reviewing Chapter Two! T_T**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Salmon-Haired Boy (Part One)**

"I needed to admit to myself that I couldn't be a complete outsider to avoid suspicion." Lucy had been sitting on the stool for a while as she continued revealing the layers to her untold story. "I did everything in my power to blend into the scene, that, I started losing my own individuality. I began to feel less like myself everyday I pretended to be someone else. I was playing a Lucy that I had never thought to be - shy, reserved, and quiet."

The eyes of the audience members dilated after Lucy had said that, and Lucy took notice.

"However, one night, the dynamic changed. I was no longer shy, nor reserved. I was still quiet, but I was able to take my character another step further. I became someone that knew how to fake boldness and confidence. All it took was one party."

Lucy blinked several times, before smiling in admission. "However, I could've never predict the consequences of that."

...

Before she knew it, Lucy was eye-to-eye with the strange pink-haired boy. His features were carved, and the white scarf he had around his neck did a lot to bring out a soft, yet confident personality. Realizing she had been gazing at him for too long, she averted her eyes back to her beer, and to the Smirnoff that was now sitting in front of her.

Lucy placed her hand over her forehead, as confusing thoughts flooded her mind. She didn't know what, but there was something about him that was striking a weird flashback. Did she know him? Had they met before? Lucy furiously tried sorting her memories in order to solve the puzzle, but to no luck. She wanted to look at him again, but was afraid he would find her creepy - almost like a stalker. But she couldn't help it.

She turned her head slowly to the side, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. She tried to turn her eyes to find the boy again, so her head didn't have to turn the whole way - therefore making it less obvious…

… but he was gone.

Her head went from being half-turned to fully snapped to her side as eyes went wide. She blinked several times to see if her eyes were just playing tricks with her - but no, he was really gone. She stared back at the unopened Smirnoff, and looked at it for a short while. Lucy grabbed the bottle, and left the house bar.

Who was he? Why did he look so familiar? Did she know him? Why did he buy her a drink? Lucy's head kept filling with question after question as she made her way across the crowd of people at the party. The stench of weed, alcohol, and perfume mixed with body odor was reeking throughout the air, but Lucy didn't care.

 _I'm finding this guy, whether he wants me to or not._

Before Lucy knew it, she was outside of the house. There were a few people outside, and the smell of weed and cigarettes was more evident. But that didn't stop her from spotting the pink mop of hair under the streetlights. He was standing on the sidewalk, smoking a cigarette himself. Lucy ruffled her hair with her free hand, and made her way to the boy.

"Umm, hey."

He turned around, and their eyes met once again. Lucy was able to see him clearer now, even though she still couldn't recognize him. But, he was handsome, and an unique-handsome at that. His odd-coloured hair was a feature that was highlighted, and Lucy found herself drawn to him. However, realizing she was getting distracted, she blinked several times. "I was wondering…" she said to him, as she brought forward the Smirnoff bottle, "... why did you give me this?"

Taking another puff from his cigarette, he smiled, "You looked down - almost as down as me." He threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it, destroying its flame. "My name's Natsu, if you care at all."

"I'm Lucy…" she said, as she pushed her blonde locks behind her hair. So, he came to the party, just as sad, annoyed, and exhausted as Lucy, yet they were still here. Natsu fixated his gaze on her eyes, which made Lucy freeze on her tracks. He then reached to his pockets, and took his hands out shortly after.

"Hey, you wanna get out of this shit party and go somewhere decent?"

A smile unexpectedly formed on Lucy's lips, but she quickly retreated after processing his offer. She had just met him, and he was asking her to go on a ride with her. _But wait…_ her uncertainty came to a halt as her face lit up, _that's the guy Juvia mentioned… the guy in my Calculus class. Natsu._ They shared a class together, and she just saw him now. She kept to herself all school day, never talking to anyone, except her teachers and Juvia. She had been wanting to get out of the party for a while…

"Okay. Where are you taking me?"

'You'll see." Natsu took Lucy's wrist, and pulled her towards a direction. "Come with me."

Natsu had lead Luy to an area of houses where a bunch of cars were parked for the party. There wasn't enough room near the house itself, so the cars were bunched up in a space outside the area. But amongst the cars… was a single black motorbike, which had belonged to Natsu. As the two approached the motorbike, Lucy's eyes widened. "Oh man, that's a sick bike you got there…"

"Thanks." Natsu smirked, as he picked up one of the helmets. "I know this great park we can go to. It's closed after hours, but I can sneak us in there."

It wasn't long after Natsu had noticed the uncertainty on Lucy's face. She clenched the Smirnoff bottle with the hand she was holding it with, and sighed. "Look… I don't know if this is such a good idea anymore…"

She extended her hand, and held the Smirnoff in front of him, expecting him to take it back from her, and they would forget about each other, and she could go back to being the quiet nothing of a person she wanted to keep being. A part of her wanted to go with him, but a part of her wanted to keep a distance since she was starting to slowly become attracted to him. Lucy didn't want to get attached to anyone - especially not now.

Natsu stared at the bottle, and brought his eyes back to her. Lucy didn't reciprocate, as her eyes were glued to the ground. Natsu took the bottle from her hand, looked at it, and threw it across the road, as he and a startled Lucy watched it break apart into pieces with the alcohol spilling all over the road.

"Why would you -"

Before Lucy could say anything further, Natsu pushed her against the door of a car that was parked next to the motorcycle. He had his hands on her hips, and out of nowhere, he crushed his lips onto hers.

Even though Natsu had caught her off by surprise, Lucy had wanted him to do that. Despite wanting to distance herself from him, Lucy had desperately wanted him to do that. With the lust that was running through her arteries, she took her hands and tangled them in his hair as he continued to kiss her. His hands worked up her waist, as his lips worked down her throat and onto her neck. Lucy's toes crawled in her boots as his lips trailed all over her neck, and back to her lips. Somewhere in between, Natsu managed to take off Lucy's jacket right off her shoulders, and tied it around her waist. Lucy placed her hands on his shoulders, as he kept hers firmly on her waist. She wanted to stop, but at the same time, she didn't.

"Are you sure you don't wanna go with me?" Natsu muttered right next to her ear, which sent a chill down Lucy's spine. She froze for a few seconds, as he brought one of his hands up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"No… I'm not."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Salmon-Haired Boy (Part Two)**

"No, I'm not."

A grim, yet teasing expression crossed Natsu's face, as he continued brushing his hungry lips across Lucy's cheek, while slowly working his way towards her lips. A soft groan emitted from her lips, indicating that she definitely wanted more. She knew she shouldn't even be here - exposing her vulnerability to someone she had barely known. But, she wanted to do it anyway. She wanted him to kiss her again, and she wanted him to make her forget every bit of sadness or guilt she was feeling that very moment.

Natsu brought his face back in front of hers; their noses were barely touching. "Come with me."

He entwined his own hand with Lucy's, and pulled her onto his motorbike. This time, she didn't object.

...

"Watch your head!"

Natsu and Lucy had ridden to a closed park, which was decently fenced up for the night, However, a small area of the park was just badly fenced enough for someone to go through after hours. There weren't many cars around the field since it was closed, making it easy for Natsu and Lucy to sneak past the towering chain-links. Natus had grabbed a six-pack from a nearby liquor store, and took it with him as Lucy and him were making their way to the fields.

"So, tell me…" Lucy said, as she tore a bottle of beer from the pack and opened it, "... what's your story? Why were you so upset?"

Natsu laughed, as he took a sip from his bottle. "Well, I could ask you the same thing, but since you wanna know first, I'll grant your wish." He placed the bottle gently on the grass, and sighed. "I was dumped this morning."

"Oh…" Lucy mumbled, as she crossed her legs, and placed her bottle in front of her. He had his heart shattered not too long ago, and him and Lucy had just made out. She was starting to feel a strange pain in her chest - a pain that made her feel that maybe their kisses held absolutely no meaning with him. She was beginning to believe Natsu may not have any genuine interest in her…

… but if he didn't, why would he invite her out here?

A sudden ring interrupted her thoughts, and had startled Natsu as well. Lucy's cellphone had begun ringing, and when she took it out of her pocket, she noticed that Juvia had been calling her. Not wanting to completely ignore her, she answered the phone. "Yea?"

" _WHERE ARE YOU?! Gray and I were getting worried SICK!"_

Lucy let out a soft giggle, which made Natsu smile in return. "Don't worry about me. I just got bored of the party."

" _But why didn't you come find me?! You just disappeared!"_

Lucy's giggly and seemingly happy face turned to guilt, and regret - which Natsu took notice of. She didn't want to tell Juvia why. She couldn't. One would lead to another question, and that question will lead to one more. It would keep going and going, until Juvia could finally put the pieces together Lucy didn't want her to put the pieces together. She couldn't let anyone put the pieces together. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

"Umm… I needed to get a drink. I was parched. But don't worry about me. I'm fine."

" _Well okay… I'm gonna head home then. I'll see you in class after the long weekend!"_

Lucy sighed, as she hung up the phone. She shoved it back into her pocket, and grabbed her beer bottle, after taking a glance at Natsu's curious face. "So, about this girl that seemed to have crushed your heart…"

Natsu's expression changed quickly, as he placed his finished beer bottle in a nearby garbage can, and lit a cigarette on his short way back. He crossed his legs also, as he exhaled the smoke. "My heart had been crushed multiple times by her. I don't know why, but we just never seem to work, yet we keep going at it. Relationships suck."

Lucy pulled a cigarette from his case that had been resting on the grass alongside the beer, and lit it. "So, are you guys getting back together again?"

"No way," Natsu groaned as he took another puff, "I'm not going to put myself through that again. God, girlfriends are such a nuisance. I've had my fair share, and no matter what I do, I just can never please them. They always want more, and whatever I can give them isn't enough. I don't think any girl wants to see me for who I am, and that's fine. Fuck that, to begin with!"

Something about that broke Lucy's happiness. She felt for him - she knew. She knew how he was feeling. She knew the pain of judgements, and she knew the feelings of never being good enough. A part of her felt terrible for him, and a part of her wanted to shed a tear for him, because she knew how he felt.

"But hey, enough about my boring life." Natsu laughed, with a hint of sadness as he put out his cigarette. "My turn. What was going on with you? You looked like you were forced to go to that party."

Lucy chuckled, as she fixed her body so that she was lying down on her stomach - cigarette in hand. "No, I chose to go. I just didn't think I'd feel like shit a few minutes into being inside." Lucy took another puff of her cigarette, and closed her eyes, "My first day in Magnolia High... and this is what happens."

"Say," Natsu proceeded to say, as his glance towards her strengthened, "You have Calculus with me, don't you?"

"Hah, I'm surprised you just realized that." Lucy said teasingly, as she drank what little beer she had left in her first bottle. "The only reason I knew you were in that class was because Juvia told me." After finishing her bottle, Lucy reached out to the pack and grabbed another one. "Say, how do you guys know each other?"

"I met Juvia after Ice-Princess introduced me to her."

"Ice-Princess…? You mean Gray?!" Lucy said, with an 'unbelievable' expression flowing within her tone.

"Yea. I fucking hate that guy. I don't know why, but something about him just irks the absolute shit out of me."

Giggling for a good few moments, Lucy put her cigarette out, and took another sip of her second bottle of beer. A feeling of tipsiness had been coming to her head, but she shrugged it off. Natsu had also reached for his second beer at this point, with both of them drowning their sorrows with nicotine and five-percent alcohol.

"You never really talked to anyone in the class. I would've gone up to talk to you, but I was afraid you were gonna run away." Natsu joked, as he drank his second bottle.

"Well, you've been paying close attention to me during class." Lucy sat up, and brought her knees closer to her chest.

"Can you blame me?"

"Actually yes, yes I can."

"Well, how about you try and blame me for this."

And without any further explanation, Natsu got himself closer to Lucy, and gently pushed her down onto the grass. Natsu loomed himself closely over her, and once again, crushed his lips onto hers. He took both of Lucy's hands into his and brought them above her head, brushing them across the soft grass. Lucy kissed him back with starvation - she had been waiting for him to kiss her ever since his lips parted his back at the house party.

"I can't blame you for that."

With that, they continued kissing against the park fields. Natsu trailed his lips back down to Lucy's neck, and when she heard a groan part from his lips - the same groan that she had emitted back when they had made out on the side of a van - she knew he was feeling something. He felt the same lust that she was feeling - and maybe the kiss did have some meaning towards him. His lips pressed against her neck as her back arched, and he continued up her throat and towards her lips again.

The kissing went from passionate to intense.

Natsu let go of Lucy's hands, and placed them on her hips.

The touching got more vigorous.

The beer bottles were forgotten about, as Lucy and Natsu kissed each other with everything they had.

What had happened during the next hour, was something the cigarettes and the alcohol - as well as their vulnerability - could take the blame for.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six : The Day After**

Lucy stared at her alarm clock, despite it being almost three in the morning. She heard the leaves rustling across the roads and sidewalks alongside the gush of wind. She scratched her collarbone, realizing a hickey had formed around the area. Her hand froze, and she turned around to find her cellphone. Her mind had been racing ever since her and Natsu had sex in the park, and the intensity of emotions they shared at that moment jammed Lucy's thoughts. She couldn't help but wonder why that had happened - why did she give herself to someone she didn't know? Why was she so attracted to him - so quickly?

Scrolling through her contacts, Lucy's eyes fell onto a text that Natsu had sent her, possibly right after he had dropped her off to her home.

 _I had fun tonight._

Her eyes locked onto those four words. It wasn't a question - but a reinforcement. Strangely, it was what she needed to hear. Being with her made him feel good - the way being with him made her feel powerful. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard - hesitating whether to text him or not. She didn't know whether she wanted to see him again - even though she knew her heart was set on it. Not holding back any longer, she texted him back - praying to the Lord he would answer her.

 _ **So did I.**_

She let the phone lie on her chest, and trailed her hands up her arm from the chill in her room. Her skin was barely touching the tips of her fingers, and she remembered the way natsu had touched her in the park. Enough to make her want more - but not enough for her to be fully satisfied in the moment. He teased out a desire in Lucy - something she never knew she had in her. She soon felt a vibration on her chest, and when she opened her cellphone, she found a text. A text from him. At three in the morning.

 _Shouldn't you be asleep?_

A small smile unexpectedly formed on Lucy's lips.

 _ **Asks the person still awake.**_

Lucy's hands gripped the cellphone tight, waiting for a reply.

 _I couldn't sleep._

 _ **Me neither.**_

 _Hey… you wanna hang out again?_

Lucy froze for a minute - eyes fixated at that one text. She had been hoping he wanted to see her again. She waited for the moment that he'd tell her that it wasn't just a one-night stand that he's forget about. He remembered her, and he didn't want to let go of her. Not yet.

 _ **Yea…**_

 _ **Yea, we should.**_

 _I'll see you in Calc, then?_

Lucy chuckled.

 _ **We have two whole days left, moron.**_

 _Haha, I know. Just wanted to say that._

 _ **Haha, alright. Goodnight.**_

 _Goodnight, Luce._

The nickname dumbfounded her. However, she let out a small smile, before turning her phone off, and finally trying to get some sleep in the quiet, desolate Friday night.

…

The Saturday morning sunlight beamed through the glass windows, as Lucy sat at the dining table, drinking her coffee. Her grandfather was sitting just a few days away from her, reading today's newspaper. Lucy jerked her head, and was able to place her eyes on the front page of the paper - and glanced at four faces. Four happy, vibrant, and confident faces - now with three of them six feet under. Lucy looked away, to hide her pain from herself. The headlines rang for days - yet all that wa mentioned were conspiracies, unnatural motives, and finger-pointing. She had barely thought of the girls, but she thought about her.

She thought about her own pain, and her own feelings. Her own demons that remain unsolved.

As Lucy's mind rambled with confusing thoughts and ramblings, the telephone rang. Lucy's grandfather reached to pick it up however, when he responded to the other line, his face turned white as he brought his eyes upon Lucy.

"Umm, sweetheart," he started, as he held the phone just far enough where the microphone couldn't catch a significant sound, "The police called. They want to see you."

Lucy slammed her coffee cup at the statement, making her grandfather fidget on the floor.

"Why?"

"They have a few things they need to inform you of."

"Well, can't they do it on the phone?" Lucy's voice screamed irritation with every word she had spoken. A few weeks after the accident, and they decide to call her now? Did they believe the gossip going on about her? Did they actually believe whatever rumour someone who was too bored for their own good started? The thought of interrogation over baseless claims struck a nerve with Lucy; she places her hands over her face.

Her grandfather sighed, but didn't say anything. The police were still on the other end of the line, but hadn't hung up. The room was filled with silence for a few moments, however, when Lucy's grandfather looked at her again with straight, concerned eyes, he said. "Don't worry. They assured me you're not a suspect."

Lucy didn't say anything after that. She looked at her grandfather as if he had read her the death penalty, and proceeded to get off her chair. With a grasp of her jacket and attachment of her boots, Lucy disappeared from the apartment, without asking for a ride, or even wondering what the police had wanted.

…

The station was unbelievably busy. Detectives and street cops alike were walking front and back, everywhere, around the place. Lucy stood at the edge of the entrance, waiting for someone to approach her, as she didn't know who to approach herself. She felt her phone buzz in her hand, and when she turned on her phone, she saw a message from Natsu.

 _Hey, you free?_

Her fingers hovered over the message board, but she turned off her phone, pretending she didn't see the message as a detective duo walked towards her.

"Lucy Heartfilia." the female detective greeted her, "My name is Detective Benson. This is my partner, Detective Stabler."

"Hello." Lucy faked a smile as she shook the hands of both Benson and Stabler.

"Why don't we go somewhere a little quieter?" Detective Stabler suggested. Lucy nodded her head, and followed the two detectives to a seating area away from the noisy station. The detectives sat across Lucy, with a folder intact in one of their hands. Lucy crossed her legs, and hung her head - avoiding eye contact with the detectives.

"Okay," Detective Benson started, "Now, I know that -

"Why am I here?" Lucy blurted out, stunning the detectives. They looked at each other, before looking back at her, with confused expressions. "You guys have been out cold for God-knows how many weeks, my friends are dead, I go from Lucy Heartfilia to the chick with bleach-blonde hair, and you're acting like all of this is fine." Her voice funed with anger, which Benson and Stabler took notice of.

"Lucy... I'm sorry." Detective Benson murmured. Lucy didn't make eye contact with her. "I know how hard this has been for you, and we were set to rule this as an accident... but we got a report for the damaged automobile just yesterday."

"The car was pretty badly battered," Stabler continued, "however, we recently found something that could possibly throw out the possibility of an 'accident' occurring."

With that, the blood from Lucy's face began to drain, bit by bit. Her head began to spin, while her heart rate excelled meteorically. "W-what are you saying?" Lucy's hands began to shiver, as she spoke to the detectives. "I was told after I had woken up from the coma... that the whole thing was just from a horrible accident. The driver that crashed into us was over the limit, and had crashed into us because he lost control of the wheel."

"I understand that." Detective Stabler continued, as he opened the folder and brought out a sheet of paper, and handed it to her. "However, the car that you and your friends were in that night also had faulty brakes."

All movement in Lucy's body was still - as her eyes zeroed onto the report that the detectives' handed her. Faulty brakes - the car they were in had faulty brakes. They weren't working. The car couldn't have been stopped anyway. The accident would've happened - whether it was from a drunk driver hitting them, or whether it was from crashing into a ditch. "The brakes were damaged…?"

"Well... that's a possibility." Detective Benson said, as she took back the car report, "However, there's also a possibility that the brakes were tampered with."

"Tampered? What are you suggesting?"

"We're suggesting that... we might be looking at a quadruple-murder investigation, rather than a mere accident."


	7. Chapter 7

*MAJOR CHANGES TO THE STORY BEGIN IN THIS CHAPTER*

 **Chapter Seven: The First Step**

" _The first time I went to talk to the detectives was nerve-wracking. I wasn't ready to hear them say that they were pursuing me, or that they thought I had anything to do with their deaths. I wouldn't have been surprised though… that's the reason why I made myself unrecognizable. However… the moment they told me this could actually be a murder made me freeze. They told me that someone tampered with the breaks, according to Crime Scenes Unit. It was a targeted hit, from their perspective. I never thought this could've been anything more than a terrible accident… but apparently… there was a large possibility that it wasn't."_

"Wait…. what?" Lyon stated in disbelief after hearing what Lucy had to say through the screen. He faced Sting, who looked equally as stunned and in disbelief. "There's no way this was a murder, right? You were there!"

"We were there at the hospital…" Sting sighed, as he faced down on his table. "I don't know what happened to the car." His hand pushed away the hair in front of his face, as a single tear trickled down his face. "We never stayed to hear how Lucy was doing…"

Lyon's initial disbelief turned into immediate guilt after hearing what Sting had said. The whole class' attention was steered towards Sting, whose single teardrop made an imprint on his cheek. "She was a coma and we never knew. We didn't even try."

Unbeknown to Sting, he wasn't the only one shedding a tear for Lucy… as Natsu sat quietly in his seat, listening to every word she had to say.

...

"Murder…?" The sheer terror the word gave Lucy was enough to paralyze her for a moment. Unaware of the detectives' concerned glares towards her, Lucy began to shake. A cold gust of thoughts encompassed around her stale mind - unwilling to settle down. _Murder…_ with each repetition came more terror. Lucy clasped her hands together, and inhaled sharply - in an attempt to calm herself. She drew her eyes towards Detective Benson - who's look of disturbance locked with her own eyes. Her lips quivered as she attempted to part them. "...murder."

"I know this is hard…" Detective Stabler released a lengthy sigh while breaking off eye contact, "... but there is evidence of probable cause. We can't rule this out yet"

Lucy shook her head slightly as Detective Stabler's notion. Her eyes began to blink at a rapid pace, and her breath became stiff. "Probable cause…?" Her question was met with a silence from both detectives, as tension build inside the interview room. When neither wanted to make eye contact, Lucy broke her silence. "What do you mean by that? Are you still telling me that you're not certain?"

"We're not." Detective Benson concluded, with a voice tainted with regret and disappointment. Lucy's eyes twisted towards her, right after she uttered the words. "But I can promise you… we're going to do everything in our power to find out."

"But in the meantime," Detective Stabler interrupted, "we need to ask you some questions. About you, your friends, and the relationship you had with them."

"Am I a suspect?" Detective Benson and Stabler were taken aback with Lucy's question, whereas the one who delivered the question remained unfazed. A look of exhaustion and depression took place on her face, as she waited for a response from either one of them.

"We told your grandfather, that you were never a suspect to begin with." Detective Benson reassured Lucy as she placed her hand on her shoulder. Lucy tilted her head towards Detective Benson, however, she didn't look at her. She couldn't.

"Does that matter?" Lucy's voice echoed irritation. "Everyone else thinks so."

Detective Benson's and Stabler's look of puzzlement irritated her even further, with her hands forming into fists. "Look at me. I can't show my face to anybody. I can't talk to anybody. The school that I grew up in accused me of murder. Mainstream media is also accusing me of murder - cause they got a hold of that stupid rumour." Tears began to form inside Lucy's tinkling eyes, as her look of sheer venom pierced through the detectives. "Sometimes, I feel like my grandfather can't even look at me without assuming the worst."

"That's not true -"

"So what do I do?" Lucy interrupted Detective Benson's attempts to deteriorate her thoughts, "I go into hiding. I change my hair so no one can look at me and see the girl that was able to survive a horrific car crash - the only one to survive the car crash. At certain moments, I can't blame them. They have a point, don't they?"

"Lucy, please -"

"But that doesn't matter." Lucy slid over Detective Stabler's sentence. "None of it matters. I lost my sisters, and the world thinks I had something to do with it. Accident or not, my name will never be cleared. I'll always remain the predator under the eyes of everyone who knows us - and what happened that night. And I'm going to have to find a way to deal with it - even if it means destroying who I used to be. I'll do that."

Despite their previous attempts to comfort Lucy, neither Benson or Stabler could say anything to demote Lucy's suffering, and pain.

…

Lucy's eyes remained fixated onto the coffee cup she held on the tip of her fingers. The coffee shop was never busy during the mid-afternoons, but the relatively quiet environment where the outside tables were caused her thoughts to spread like wildfire. The word remained imprinted in her thoughts… _murder._ The coffee cup remained over half-full, however, Lucy pushed it away. Her hands grasped her hair, wanting to shake herself out of the misery, only to little success. Tears had been welling in her eyes and pooling down the entire time she had been sitting down, as her now-cold coffee cup continued being neglected.

Pulling out her wallet, she pulled out a 5000 yen bill to leave on the table. As she was about to close her wallet, and leave the shop, a familiar sound erupted her seething thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Startled, Lucy vigorously wiped her tears, and turned around to face whoever it was that spoke to her… and to her utter and complete despair, the salmon-haired boy she shared an intimate night with was standing right behind her, with a expression of concern.

"Natsu!" Lucy said, with a slight alarmed tone to her voice. "What… what are you doing here."

"I was just going home, when I saw you here… crying." Natsu said, concerningly, as he made himself go closer to Lucy. His eyes tried to align with hers, but Lucy's eyes didn't meet him back. "Luce, what's wrong."

Continuing to wipe her tears rapidly, Lucy shook her head while giving off a disingenuous chuckle. "Nothing… nothing, I'm fine."

"You're lying to me. Something's wrong. What is it?" Natsu repeated his question, obviously not buying into Lucy's deception.

"Nothing's wrong -

"Come on Lucy, it's pretty obvious that -

"I said I'm fine!" Lucy snapped, frustrated with Natsu pestering her. Taking a step back, Natsu's guilt-filled eyes fell onto the ground… almost in shame and embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, Lucy's anger morphed into disappointment, as she put her hand on Natsu's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I really am."

Looking up, their eyes finally made contact with one another. Taking her hand off of his shoulder, Lucy wiped another streaking tear, and presented a small smile towards Natsu. "I just… had a rough afternoon." However, as Lucy tried walking away before she embarrassed herself in front of him by bawling her eyes out, Natsu stopped her by grabbing her hand. Looking back at him, Lucy noticed a change in his facial expression - his eyes seemed caring, instead of badgering.

"There's no way I'm letting you go while you're looking like that."

...

"Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise." Natsu chuckled, as he kept Lucy's eyes covered as he led her down a sidewalk. There weren't a lot of voices in the sidewalk, but Lucy could hear distant, closed off chatter and laughter. From the moment when Natsu picked her up from the coffee to now, she had absolutely no idea where Natsu was leading her. Lucy could feel her feet slowing down, and after a few seconds, Natsu peered his hands off of Lucy's eyes. Opening them slowly, Lucy looked up in front of her… to find the name _Cafe Crema House_ on a sign above a large door.

"You took me away from a coffee shop… to go to another coffee shop?" Lucy said as she turned to Natsu, puzzled.

Smiling deviously, Natsu grabbed both Lucy's shoulders. "It's not just any coffee shop." He turned Lucy around, giving her a gentle nudge on her lower back. "Come on… go inside."

Letting out a soft giggle, Lucy obliged to Natsu's commands, and opened the door. However, once she did, she was greeted into a different universe. It wasn't just a coffee shop - it was a lounge. A sophisticated, chic lounge area where coffee lovers were enjoying each others company. But when Lucy turned to her left, she saw a stage. On and around it, she saw musicians with guitars and microphones setting up for a show. Blinking her eyes several times, a smile full of excitement and delight spread across Lucy's lips. It was the first time she had seen a scene like this in months.

" _Cafe Crema House_ is having their annual open-mic day today." Natsu said, while walking up just behind Lucy, who kept staring at the setting in front of her. "And judging by the look on you face… I was right to bring you here."

Turning her head to the side, Lucy beamed with delight towards Natsu, and he took her to one of the empty tables at the back of the coffee house. A guitarist and singer were about to perform on the stage, and they began setting up the microphone on the stand. Lucy and Natsu had gotten their coffees, when the guitarist began to strum a few notes. "Thank you for sticking around, everyone! We are back, with two more songs to perform. Up now, I have the beautiful Sara Fujioka, singing her last song for the day!"

The young woman and the guitarist seemed to be in tune as the notes began to hit. The vibe in the coffee house, with music lovers joining together to celebrate the art and what it represents, was mystifying. Lucy was drawn into the song, having it being one of her favourites.

 _I just wanna see_

 _I just wanna see how beautiful you are_

 _You know that I see it_

 _I know you're a star_

It also used to be one of her favourite songs to play on the guitar.

 _Where you go I follow_

 _No matter how far_

 _If life is a movie_

 _Oh you're the best part_

It had been just over two months, but for Lucy, this was what she needed. Getting back to the core of who she was, was what she needed for her to forget what happened this morning. She might have damaged her guitar, and turned her back towards music… but her love for it will never go away. Breathing in and out deeply, she turned to Natsu, who had also been looking at her as he smiled. "Thank you for this. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"You don't have to." Natsu said softly, as he sipped his cappuccino. "I can already tell."

Responding with a shy smile, Lucy ducked her head down, trying to avoid eye contact. "You know... I really didn't think we'd talk again."

"You did?" Natsu asked with a hint of surprise to his voice. He leaned back on his chair, and crossed his arms, which made Lucy's eyes hard as steel. "What made you think that?"

"Isn't that what rebound sex is?"

"You thought that was rebound sex?"

"Did you think it was rebound sex?"

Not able to say anything, Natsu chuckled. Lucy pushed herself closer to the table, and placed both her hands under her cheek. "Cat got your tongue?"

Shaking his head, Natsu uncrossed his arms and put them on the table, while looking at Lucy directly in her eyes… making her heartbeat accelerate. "No… I didn't think it was just rebound sex."

Stunned, Lucy couldn't find any words to respond to him. Their eyes remained fixated upon one another's.

 _If you love me won't you say something_

Natsu's eyes gazed at Lucy's hand, which was now on the table, next to her coffee cup. With his own hands quivering, he slowly started reaching for it. Realizing what he was trying to do, Lucy's hands also began to shake.

 _If you love me won't you_

 _Love me, won't you_

With those last few words and runs, the song was over, and the audience gave a well-deserved cheer to the duo on stage. The cheer interrupted Lucy and Natsu, who, in turn, also clapped for the musicians.

As the woman was walking down from the stage, another person ran up to the stage, and began whispering into the guitarist's ear. A few moments later, he stepped in front of the microphone. "Guys, I just got word that my last singer cancelled her appearance last minute." Groans and words of disappointment filled up the room quickly - Lucy couldn't help but feel a dissatisfaction alongside them. "Does anyone know the lyrics to _Thinking 'Bout You_ by Frank Ocean? If not… we're going to have to end the Annual Open Mic Day early."

Without thinking before saying anything, and not processing what she was doing, Lucy's hand shot up straight in the air. The guitarist, the audience, along with Natsu all stared at her, astonished.

"I know the lyrics."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Confusion**

"I know the lyrics."

An assertion of relief crossed the guitarist's face, as he ushered Lucy upon the stage. The audience, in turn, gave Lucy encouragement by cheering for her. However, before Lucy got out of her seat, Natsu stopped her. "Wait, you sing?"

Looking towards him, she smiled. "I used to." Noticing his raised eyebrow and his confused demeanor, Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "Why not give it a chance again?"

With that, she walked towards the stage. Shaking hands with the guitarists, she adjusted herself into a stool that was in front of the microphone stand. After clearing her throat, she tapped the microphone for a quick sound check. "It's been a while since I last sung this song, so I hope I'm not too rust for y'all!"

The guitarist started playing the song, starting with the Fmaj7 chord. Tapping her foot, Lucy found her way towards the rhythm of the song. She could feel the whole audience staring at her - including Natsu. Feeling herself slightly panic, she breathed in, and slowly breathed out… and when the guitarist hit the Am chord, she knew it was her cue.

 _A tornado flew around my room before you came  
_ _  
Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain in  
_ _  
Southern California, much like Arizona  
_ _  
My eyes don't shed tears, but boy they bawl_

Lucy's chest-voice mesmerized the crowd - it was delicate, and powerful. The little runs she added in-between the lines added an uniqueness to the song - a distinction that seperated her from Frank Ocean. Having her eyes closed at that moment, Lucy didn't notice the phones that were recording her by the audience. She was too invested into the performance to care.

 _When I'm thinkin' 'bout you, ooh, no, no, no_

 _I've been thinkin' 'bout you, you know, know, know_

 _I've been thinkin' 'bout you_

 _Do you think about me still?_

 _Do ya, do ya?_

Opening her eyes for a brief moment, she saw Natsu at the back of the room, recording her on his phone. He noticed her eyes looking at him, and flashed her a quick wink. Winking back, Lucy prepared her chest-voice to transition to head-voice.

 _Or do you not think so far ahead?_

 _'Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever_

 _Ooh, ooh_

Being able to hit the high register effortlessly grabbed the crowd's attention - including the guitarist, who was trying to focus on playing the song on guitar instead of getting distracted by Lucy's voice. She added in complex runs - earning her small, scattered applause. Natsu couldn't take his eyes off of her; Lucy was so enchanting up on that stage - she was singing the song as if she was the one who wrote it. He couldn't help but smile throughout her performance, and rest his cheek against his arm in astonishment.

 _I remember, how could I forget?_

 _How you feel?_

 _And though you were my first time_

 _A new feel_

Lost in an alternate universe, the room became empty to Lucy. After diving into the third verse, nothing existed anymore. She felt back in her comfort zone - the comfort that she had left behind months ago. It was a familiarity that she didn't know she missed until she came face to face with it once again.

 _It won't ever get old, not in my soul_

 _Not in my spirit, keep it alive_

 _We'll go down this road_

 _'Til it turns from color to black and white_

This was what she loved to do. This was her passion.

 _Or do you not think so far ahead?_

 _'Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever_

After singing her last run, the song came to an end. The entire room erupted into a standing ovation. Even the guitarist stood on his feet to show Lucy the respect he believed she deserved. Glancing around the room, Lucy smiled in appreciation - and when her eyes saw Natsu smiling back at her with his arms crossed, she shot back a smirk.

"You sounded like an absolute professional!" The guitarist praised Lucy as he shook her hand in gratitude. "Tell me, are you a trained singer?"

Laughing modestly, Lucy shook her head. "Haha, no… this is just something I used to do with my free time."

"Meaning… you don't do it anymore." The guitarist asked, almost bewildered.

Sighing, Lucy shook her head again. "It's a long story… but I didn't want everyone to go home in disappointment of the show being over too quickly."

Giving her a reassuring smile, the guitarist patted her head. "I hope you find a way back to singing again. I'd hate for a talent like yours to disappear from the industry." Bowing his head slightly, he walked away from the stage - getting ready to pack the instruments and sound equipment for closing. Letting out a soft chuckle to herself, Lucy found her way off the stage… only to realize that Natsu had been standing in front of the stage already.

Extending a hand towards Lucy, he helped her get down from the sloped stage on to the ground. Afterwards, he turned to Lucy with an astonished expression plastered all over him. "How in the world are you capable of doing that…?" He placed his hands on Lucy's shoulders in excitement, making Lucy giggle in return. "That was one of the best things I've ever seen."

"You think so?" With Natsu nodding, it made Lucy smile. "I want to thank you." Sighing, Lucy's eyes fell onto the ground for a moment, before matching up back with Natsu's. "I haven't done something like that in a long time."

Natsu returned a smirk of her own, and he moved closer to Lucy… sending a shiver down her back. He was so close - she could feel his breath against her neck. "That was also one of the best turn-ons I've had in a long time."

A promiscuous grin leered upon Lucy, which made her bite her lower lip. The same feeling rushed through her body as last night - pure lust. She felt confident once again, knowing that she had that effect on him. "I turn you on, huh?"

Placing his hand across her lower waist, he pulled her closer to him - his lips close enough to touch her ear. "You do a lot of things to me…"

But before Natsu could say anything further, their moment was interrupted by the ring of a cell phone. Realizing it wasn't Lucy's, Natsu reached for his pocket, and pulled out his. Just as he answered it, a distressed voice was just audible enough for Lucy to notice.

"Why are you calling me?" Natsu began to speak, equally annoyed. Lucy took this as a cue to back off away slightly. She didn't need much to figure out that he was frustrated.

"Lisanna, just back off okay?!"

Natsu didn't notice the blood draining out of Lucy's face as soon as he uttered those last few words. Whatever he was saying after that registered out of Lucy's ears- as if she went deaf at that moment. After getting off of the phone, Natsu turned his eyes back towards Lucy, who started to clear her throat. "Hey, umm, I actually… have to go home."

"So soon?" Natsu asked, confused. Lucy tried her best to make sure he couldn't see through past her surface… but it was harder than she had initially thought. "You can't stay longer?"

"No, I… umm…" Lucy struggled to find words, making Natsu more and more concerned. "I… told my grandfather that I'd be on time for dinner. I bailed on him last night."

"Ah…" Natsu's troubled expression disappeared into coyness. "...last night."

Letting out a quiet, short laugh, Lucy nodded her head. "I'll see you later."

...

"Is everything okay?"

"Umm…" Lucy began breathing slowly; she had called Juvia to the street that Natsu took her to, and asked if she could drive her back to her grandfather's place. It was getting into the evening, and the house was fairly quiet as her grandfather was taking a nap. The two girls had been in Lucy's room for a little while, and Juvia could see distress upon Lucy's face - which made her concern grow more and more. "Remember when I told you last night that… I left the party 'cause I got bored?"

After Juvia nodded, Lucy continued speaking - this time, in a lower voice. "That's not the only reason why I left."

Juvia was quiet for a minute, which made Lucy panic as she wondered if Juvia was mad at her. However, Juvia reached for her dark-blue side-bag and pulled out her phone, and opened it. After a few more moments, she brought up her screen in front of Lucy. Juvia had opened SnapChat, and there was the video of Lucy, with that guitarist from earlier, singing 'Thinking 'Bout You' - and the caption read: _I'm falling head over heels_. "I was going to ask you about it later… but I guess I don't have to anymore."

"Are you mad at me?"

Laughing, Juvia turned off her phone, and looked at Lucy playfully. "Why would I be mad?"

Lucy shrugged, as she took a seat on her neatly-made bed. "I don't know… 'cause I lied to you?"

"You didn't lie." Juvia said in a teasing, yet reassuring tone, as she sat across from Lucy on her bed. "But I'll admit, I can't say I was expecting that."

Shaking her head gently, Lucy let out a sigh. "He was dating someone before… right?"

Juvia nodded her head, and her initial happy demeanor shrunk a little bit - which Lucy noticed. "Lisanna and Natsu always had a complicated relationship… but yesterday was the first time they actually broke up. They'd take breaks here and there, but they always made up."

"Lisanna…" Lucy said slowly, no longer making eye contact with Juvia. "You mean Lisanna Strauss?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: The Other Woman**

"Lucy, are you alright?"

With Juvia's voice interrupting her ongoing gaze off reality, Lucy blinked rapidly before turning her eyes to her concerned friend. "Uh yea.. I'm alright. Must've lost my head for a second."

"Alright..." Juvia said, unconvinced with Lucy's excuse, however, leaving it for the moment. "So, you and Natsu, huh."

After letting out a soft giggle, Lucy took herself off of her bed, and made her way to the window - the stars were out bright. She let out a sigh, and gazed back at her friend. "I don't know what to make of this... I don't even know why any of it happened."

"Well, it's obvious he likes you."

"I doubt it..." Lucy replied while shaking her head. She had been recalling all the moments she had shared with Natsu so far - realizing that she doesn't even know him that well. However, he was able to read her in a way that no one - not even Juvia - was able to. The Smirnoff, the dance, the way he touched her; he made her feel special, and wanted. However, despite her own feelings, what did he feel? Would he ever want to see her again? Does he still want her? "He broke up with Lisanna. It's so recent - too recent. I really shouldn't have... but..."

"... but you wanted to." Juvia finished her sentence with a light giggle, making Lucy shed a grin in return.

"Yeah... I did."

"Well I'll admit, his SnapChat feed got a lot more interesting now because of you." Juvia laughed, making Lucy sneak in a snicker. "You're an amazing singer, Lucy."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon."

"Why not?" Juvia sat up, with her arms crossed towards Lucy. "Usually, people who have voices like that would never want to shut their mouth."

Lucy shrugged, while giving an empathetic smile. "It's personal."

Taking it as an indication that Lucy didn't want to elaborate, Juvia smiled, and placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder. She stretched her arms out, while rolling her neck to ease the tensed muscles. She got off Lucy's bed, and zipped up her jacket. "Well, it's getting late. I should drive back home before my parents lose their minds."

"Alright. I'll walk you to the door."

Once Lucy and Juvia both got to the door, Lucy turned the locks, undid the chain, and held the door open for Juvia. But before she left, Juvia took one last glance at Lucy. "Hey, I'm sure he likes you. Who wouldn't?" She then left, following Lucy's timid smile.

Lucy paused at the door, listening to the footsteps that echoed behind Juvia's trail. Slowly closing the door, her voice still reflected on her mind. She placed her hand flat onto the door, breathing heavily. The voice - it was calling. And it was calling one name - over, and over, and over again.

 _Lisanna..._

 _..._

 _"Oh my god, Lucy, please, you have to enter."_

 _Yukino sipped her latte impatiently while waiting for an answer from Lucy, who was doing a terrible job at ignoring her. The twins - Sherry and Sherria, amused by the situation, continued spectating the interesting exchange occurring between their two friends._

 _"Yukino, this is the tenth time you asked me. And my answer is still the same - I'm not entering that goddamn contest!" Lucy irritatingly laid her foot down, while taking a bite of her chocolate chip muffin._

 _At this time, a few younger girls came around to their table at the coffee house. Sherry and Sherria both hissed at the bickering Lucy and Yukino, urging them to keep their voices down. "Hi... we love your music!" one of the girls said shyly. "Is it okay if we get a picture?"_

 _With that, Sherry turned to Lucy and Yukino. "Okay, we're going to take care of this. And while we're gone, please get this resolved. I don't want our fans to think that all we do is argue." Lucy sighed, as Sherry and Sherria got off of their table, and went with the two younger girls. Almost immediately, Yukino went back to staring at Lucy, attempting to persuade her._

 _"Please Lucy! You're the only one that can do it!"_

 _"Look," Lucy said sternly, putting her espresso cup down firmly. "When we started Fairy Tail, we promised each other that whatever we did - we would do it together. This isn't any different. I'm not making and marketing a solo record for the sake of winning some dumb contest."_

 _"But this isn't just 'some dumb contest'..." Yukino was sounding more and more defeated in her attempts to convince Lucy, but still unwilling to give up. "You are one of the only ones in this country that can speak English fluently. You're a great songwriter - and you're easily the best singer out of all of us. This is a chance for us to get placed on the American Market, and you can be featured in a movie soundtrack! Think about how huge that could be for us!"_

 _"I..." Lucy was starting to slowly break. News about the contest that had been broadcasted just a week ago has been the topic of discussion among many 'Fairy Tail' fans. An American film composer looking for a young artist from around the world to write and compose an English song to add onto the film that he has been signed to - an attempt to discover talent of the youth across the world. Lucy was known as one of the rare artists that has a mastery in the English language - and fans have been speculating on whether she would enter the contest. However, the rules prohibited official groups to participate - whereas collaborations with a maximum of two artists were allowed. 'Fairy tail' couldn't make a track for the contest, but Lucy could. "I don't know, Yukino. I've never written a song in English before. And, you guys are the ones that handle the production. How am I going to do this without you?"_

 _"May I offer my suggestion of 'Why would you even be thinking about doing it?'"_

 _Lucy was taken aback with the sudden appearance of a seemingly unfamiliar voice. But when she gazed up to see who it came from, it became too clear. "You really want everything, don't you Lucy?"_

 _'Back off Lisanna..." Yukino uttered through her clenched teeth, which Lisanna took immediate notice of. A smirk appeared on her lips as she brushed her short, white hair behind her while still locking her gaze at Lucy - who hadn't taken her eyes off of her._

 _"Really Lucy, you're gonna let your minion defend you again? It really is the 'Lucy Heartfilia' show with 'Fairy Tail', now isn't it. I always knew you were secretly thinking of going solo."_

" _I never said that, Lisanna."_

 _"Oh really? You expect me to believe that after you released an album full of songs that only you wrote? What's the matter... your other mates aren't good enough for you?"_

 _"She writes our songs because that's what we all agreed on." Yukino, once again, jumped to Lucy's defense. Lisanna pursed her lips while staring coldly at Lucy's stale, white face - who eyes were longer in tact with her own. But before Lisanna could degrade any further, two more voices mix into the group unexpectedly._

 _"Yukino's right, Lisanna." Sherry said firmly, with her arms crossed. "Lucy has displayed authenticity through her lyrics, therefore, we agreed that she would be the songwriter for the group."_

 _"I guess you really are still mad that we caught you stealing our songs for your shit EP." Sherria said, coldly, causing Lisanna's back to straighten, and her eyes to release all the hatred she had bottled in. She turned her head towards the twins who had embarrassed her, and stared at them with the same eyes._

 _"You did not just say that to me."_

 _"Oh yeah we did, and we can do a lot worse if you don't get out of our table." Yukino added._

 _Blinking several times, Lisanna sharply inhaled, and walked away from the girls - as she was instructed, but leaving behind the sourness of her presence. Sherry and Sherria quickly took their seats again, and gazed at a clearly hurt Lucy... who wouldn't even make an effort to raise her head to look at the girls. Yukino placed her head across her temple is frustration, while the twins looked at one another in a slight distress. However, that all changed when Lucy found her voice, and raised her eyes to look at Yukino._

 _"Where do I sign up for the contest?"_

 _..._

Splashing cold water on her face, Lucy kept her hands intact with her face, as she looked back in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes filled with trauma, and memories. Lisanna dated Natsu... the mere thought of that sent a sharp chill through her spine. She couldn't get close to him any more - not after knowing that. People might not recognize the Lucy that she became now, but she didn't know what to predict around Lisanna. She couldn't. She was too afraid. Too hurt. Too affected by all that they went through. She can't have her look at the Lucy that she knew again with the more disdain, and more cruelty. She couldn't handle it. She couldn't be with Natsu... she just couldn't.

I can't... do this.

 _..._

Sunday came by and went with Lucy ignoring texts from both Natsu, Lucy, and Gray - who kept asking her to reply to Juvia. Her phone still remained untouched, and when Monday came out and about, Lucy came to school, with her thoughts echoing back to those memories that she had recollected. They were all she could think about. Turning the lock on her locker slowly, her breath became uneasy. She tried calming down by tightly shutting her eyes, but it seemed to do more damage than anything. Vigorously opening the locker door, she placed her backpack in her locker door, until a mob of platinum hair caught the corner of her eye. Quickly, Lucy turned her head to the left…

... and her stare was fixated.

Walking down the hall with another female student, Lisanna remained the same as ever, with her posture and attitude. Her hair was a bit shorter, but her face remained determined and sly. Lucy continued to gaze at her, concealing half her face with the door of her locker, her body frozen in time and space. Her voice was no longer there, and her anxiety was reaching levels of danger. But it wasn't long after her lingering stare was interrupted.

"Lucy! There you are! Why haven't you been answering me?!"

As soon as she recognized the voice of the salmon-haired boy behind her, Lucy found her body once again, but she went white cold. She turned around, and saw Natsu walking to her, but what caught her eye the most was the fact that he walked right past his ex-girlfriend - as if she no longer existed in his world, while Lisanna gave Lucy a stare of pure anger and hurt, before she an her friend left.

Lucy's heart fell.

"Hey," Natsu said once he approached Lucy full at her locker, placing his hand on her. Expectedly, his touch sent chills all through her body, but Lisanna's eyes - which she saw today for the first time in a long time - stabbed her all through her body; evening out the pleasure with the pain. Her eyes went back to Natsu, as he started talking to her uncontrollably.

"Look, I don't know how to say this, but I really didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable the other night. I know I was spamming your texts, and I didn't mean to do that either, it's just -

"No, it's fine." Lucy replied with the faintest of voices. She grabbed her Chemistry book in her hand, and shut the door to her locker. But the moment she was about to walk away, Natsu grabbed her hand, and began to pull her close. Lucy jerked her head towards Natsu once again, but she didn't resist.

"Please stay. Just a little longer."

Sighing, Lucy released her grasp from Natsu, and looked at him proper - without the fear of Lisanna being near them. Without the fear of old memories coming back. Without any of the tension she was feeling with her own emotions. She was willing to stay.

"I know I just got out of a relationship. And I don't want you to think that I'm using you."

Hearing those words from Natsu caused Lucy's eyes to widen. _I don't want you to think that I'm using you._ What she had feared when it came to Natsu was now a fear of his own. Did he really think Lucy thought he was using her? The mere thought hadn't once crossed Lucy's mind, even though it would've been reasonable if it did.

"But... last weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, and I don't want to stop spending time with you."

Speechless, all Lucy was able to do was stare at Natsu, as she tried to comprehend what he had said to her. He really did want her. Even though he broke up with Lisanna... he now wanted Lucy. She wasn't just a fling. Not just.

"It doesn't have to be serious. We don't have to talk about anything."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: The Offer Still Stands**

" _There were a lot of unresolved issues I left behind when I made the decision to switch schools, and practically abandon my life. I didn't think much of them at first, but slowly as life at the new school began to develop normality with me, I kept running into these problems." Lucy had been lost in her story for the last ten minutes; it was almost as if she had forgotten a crowd was even there. The cameras that were pointing to her all around the stage - she carried on as if they didn't exist. Slowly, layers upon layers of unspoke events unraveled, not only leaving the crowd shocked, but also to everyone watching outside._

 _"There was also the constant fear of being exposed as Lucy Heartfilia - hence I adopted my mother's maiden name in the transcripts. I wanted her to fade away from people's memories; I wanted Magnolia High to believe that Lucy packed a bag and left Magnolia for Kyoto, or Tokyo, or somewhere far away from here. I just didn't want her to be remembered anymore - especially the rumours that were spread about her."_

"I don't get it…" Juvia spoke up out of nowhere, stunning the silent crowd in the classroom. "Who started these rumours to begin with? I mean, now that I think of it, I've heard people talk about them here, but it all just sounds ridiculous now. Who the hell would try and sabotage her like this?"

After letting out a long sigh, Sting chimed into the discussion. "Lucy and the girls went to Fiore Composite High School before all of this. I don't know it for a fact, but I think that the rumour started there." Lyon paused to think for a few moments, before nodding alongside Sting. "I mean, no one was talking about this until two weeks after the accident, right? So whoever started this, must've started it back in Fiore High."

"I still don't understand who would try to hurt Lucy like this…" Levy spoke in a gentle, yet sad tone. She turned to Lyon and Sting, who kept looking back and forth from the screen, and to the other kids who were also trying to make sense of the events. "Do you know anyone who would do this to her…?"

"Lucy wasn't the type of girl to make enemies." Lyon stated, "I mean, _Fairy Tail_ was made up of four girls releasing music on Spotify and Soundcloud - they didn't even have a record deal. They may have been popular, but they didn't exactly have the momentum to make people jealous to this extreme."

"Do you think that this could be the same person that caused the crash in the first place?"

All eyes soon fell upon Natsu, who had been fairly quiet throughout the entire video sequence. Taking each bit in, a surge of guilt and pain flooded Natsu's emotions as he listened to Lucy's story. As he laid his eyes on her delicate face, he was taken back to all the moments he had shared with her - his vulnerabilities, his insecurities, and his personal intimacy - and this entire time, Lucy struggled with inner demons of her own; demons so strong and dominant, that they made her feel worthless. "I mean, if the police think that this isn't an accident, then this was obviously a planned execution."

"I think people were able to easily point the finger at Lucy simply BECAUSE she was the only surviving member…" Rogue began contributing to the discussion. "I think that if the person who started these rumours was the same person who tampered with the breaks, they would not only want to divert the attention from themselves, but also protect their own ego from the fact that they weren't successful in killing all four members."

The whole room went silent after Rogue uttered his words, wondering if a possible cover up was occurring at this very moment - even almost a year after the accident.

…

 _"We don't have to talk about anything. Just us."_

Throughout the whole morning, Lucy kept repeating those words throughout her head. Her ability to pay the slightest bit of attention to any of her classes was non-existent. Replaying the two nights they had shared since three days of meeting each other, Lucy kept having a mental conflict with what Natsu had offered her. No strings attached. No commitment. No emotions. Just good, clean fun. She knew that she liked him, however, her heart kept telling her that he didn't like her as much as she did. Was he really willing to give himself to someone he doesn't know, and will probably never truly like? But more importantly was Lucy ready to accept that? The countless thoughts kept flogging her psyche up until the lunch bell rang, startling Lucy out of her daydreaming phase.

"Hey girl!" Juvia plopped herself onto an empty desk near Lucy. Lucy smiled back, while packing her notes and pencils. "So, I know you don't know a lot of people her. I often hang out with my friends in here, since the classroom remains empty throughout most of the lunch break, so I was thinking… do you want to hang out with us?"

"Will your friends like me?" Lucy chuckled, as she got out of her seat, sitting on top of the table.

"Of course they will! What's there not to like?!" Juvia said, which brought a gentle smile upon Lucy's face. "So why don't you wait here, and I'll text them to let them know we have an addition to the playground!"

As Juvia pulled out her phone, Lucy nodded in response, and slowly made her way towards the large window which covered most of the right wall of the classroom. Out through the glass, Lucy saw the other high school students running around, talking, and eating. The bright sunlight glistened over the sight, as Lucy made her way towards the rim of the window, and sat on top of it, leaning her head back.

" _You guys are literally the slowest people ever!" Lucy hollered as she ran towards the patio, alongside the dozens of kids. Yukino, Sherry and Sherria were lagging behind, finding it difficult to catch up to the hyper blonde._

" _Well, can't you learn to slow down a bit?!" Yukino panted, as the girls finally made it to the seats that Lucy had saved for them amongst the sea of high school students._

" _Well I would've," Lucy began to speak while getting out her bento box, "But if I did, we wouldn't all be sitting down in actual seats, now would we?"_

" _Okay okay…" Yuki mumbled, while stuffing her face with Udon. "Mmm… this is so good!"_

 _Sherry fished through her bag, and took out a few napkins. "Could you maybe not be this messy…" she grunted irritably as she handed a slothering Yukino the napkins._

 _Lucy giggled, "Ah, let the girl eat," she said, while taking a bite out of her pickled beans. "I don't think either of us had a proper meal in the last few days, right?"_

" _I was up last night mixing the last two songs for our album, and I forgot to eat dinner." Sherria added as she opened up her own bento box. "We really need to stop getting take out for lunch."_

" _I mean, I did offer to cook here and there…" Lucy snuffed, as she was eating. "Maybe I can cook for us tonight?"_

" _Ohhh! Could you make the Shoyu ramen?!" Yukino chimed in, once she was finished her mouthful of Udon. "I haven't had that in so long!"_

" _Yes, I can do that!" Lucy giggled, while the other girls followed suit._

"Hey guys!" Juvia's voice broke Lucy's trail of thought, leaving her momentarily stunned. Once a moment passed, Lucy turned her head, finding a large group of people entering through the classroom, surrounding Juvia. Dropping herself off of the window rim, Lucy made her way towards the crowd, as Juvia also made an effort to walk towards her. "So, you're not gonna remember all the names here, but it's fine! So guys, this is the new girl I've been telling you about!"

Stunned at the sheer number of people that were present, Lucy tried to acknowledge all the names that were being hurdeled towards her, such as "Gray" - who she met before, "Levy", "Gajeel", "Rogue", "Loke" - who also felt the need to make a comment on how good her ass looked, "Wendy", "Elfman", and "Cana". She couldn't even begin to imagine how a group of friends can exist to be this large.

'So, you're the newie Juvia wouldn't stop talking about!" a playful voice popped out, which made Lucy's head jerk. A towering blonde young man headed towards her, with features familiarly distinct. The moment Lucy looked at his face, she went numb. Her eyes were fixated onto his, and she stood still as the man extended his hand towards her. "I'm Sting."

For a brief moment, Lucy didn't react. The moment may not have had any impact to the people around her, but it felt like hours to Lucy. Sting. It was Sting. A rush of anger, pain, and remorse flooded Lucy's body instantly. The man whom Yukino had fallen in love with, completely disregarded Lucy after she survived the accident. Closing her eyes during that brief moment, Lucy took a deep breath, smiled, and shook his hand. "It's so nice to meet you."

As soon as she had done that, another face that was all too familiar walked towards Lucy. White hair, pale smirk, devilish smile. Those were all the things Sherry fell for when she was introduced to Lyon. It seemed as if Yukino and Sherry met their match with the two boys, however, they seem to act as if the accident never happened in the first place. "After Natsu posted that video of you on his Snap, we were all excited to meet you!"

"Thank you! It's nice to meet you, as well." Lucy had her fake smile intact, as she greeted Lyon. She tried to shake out of the betrayal she was feeling, and attempted to oppress it. These weren't the emotions that the new Lucy should be feeling. New Lucy wasn't like that - New Lucy could also pretend that none of this happened, and start over. New Lucy shouldn't feel hurt that Sting and Lyon no longer cared about her; she needed to accept that this is where she is.

"Hey, where's Natsu and Lisanna?" Juvia blurted, breaking the building tension in Lucy's mind. "Were they not with you guys?"

"I saw them walking away together, but I don't know where they went." Levy said quietly, while catching Lucy's attention.

"So, they're still together?" Juvia asked, becoming increasingly confused.

"I don't know… Natsu called me last night, telling me it was over." Sting added, while placing himself on top of one of the desks. "I mean, they've been together forever. It's so weird that they're not together anymore."

Feeling uneasy by the second, Lucy started wondering whether Natsu was full of shit or not while telling her that whatever he had with Lisanna was over. Were those nights full of shit as well? If they were, then all she was used for was rebound sex. That's all this would've been. "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." Without saying anything else, Lucy dashed her way out of the classroom, not even allowing Juvia to check up on out of the room, Lucy felt conflicting emotions of anger, confusion, and sadness. Sting, Lyon, Lisanna, and Natsu. It was only noon, and she was already overwhelmed.

Sifting through crowds of people, Lucy attempted to fight back tears. However, at the same time, she kept thinking she may have deserved all of this in the first place. Why couldn't she just pull herself together, and act normal, so she can appear normal rather than damaged.

After pushing away all the students hanging outside the hallway, Lucy found a closed classroom with the lights shut off on the inside. Hoping she would find some peace inside, she swung the door open. However, before she could turn on any of the lights, Lucy heard two separate voices, bickering at each other.

"Let me guess, she's your new girlfriend."

"Why do you care?! You're the one who dumped me!"

"I didn't expect you to start dating other chicks THAT quickly!"

"Again, why do you CARE?!"

The conversation was interrupted with Lucy turning on the switch, allowing the lights to flicker. The faces of Natsu and Lisanna were revealed in the now lit classroom, and both their eyes settled on the visibly shocked and embarrassed Lucy.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: If you're a new reader, I don't even know why you're here. But if you're a returning reader, PLEASE re-read this story from Chapter Seven.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: More Confusion**

The bickering came to a halt the moment Natsu and Lisanna were aware of Lucy's stunned expression. Lisanna folded her arms as she drilled a jealous-filled stare right through Lucy - much to her terror. "So, you're the girl Natsu is using to get over me?"

"Stop attacking Lucy!" Natsu snapped, with rage filling his body, making Lucy jump out of her state of fear. She was able to grab a glimpse of Natsu's anger as he stood up for Lucy, which made her step back momentarily. "I never said anything about using anyone! And do I have to keep reminding you that YOU DUMPED ME?"

"Maybe I did the right thing for myself," Lisanna directed her glare back at Natsu, leaving Lucy to regenerate her state of shock, "Seeing that you were able to move on this quickly, you must've gotten ores of me ages ago. And tell me, did you dick her down so good that you feel the need to swarm over her?!"

"Nastu and I aren't dating!" Without realizing, Lucy put a halt to the arguing. Both Natsu's and Lisanna's attention were caught, as they reinstated their eyes on the blonde-haired girl, who was unfortunately caught in the middle of the drama. "Natsu and I never had sex - we barely know each other. I met him at a party, I ran into him again at a cafe, and I have Calculus with him. That's it!"

Lisanna was visibly relaxing during Lucy's brawl, but Lucy could hear Natsu swallowing sharply in anger. The cold, sharp stare that Lisanna drilled into Lucy disappeared, but a flush of embarrassment ran through her cheeks, as a flustered look appeared. "Well. I just thought - it didn't look that way to me."

"Just because you see two people talking, that doesn't mean they're dating. I'm surprised an experienced woman like you has to be told that by a little girl who's never had a real boyfriend."

With that, more embarrassment followed through, but Lisanna appeared a bit irritated as well. "We aren't going to have a problem, are we Lucy?"

"Not unless you want to keep creating them." Lucy bit back with a sharper tongue than Lisanna, stunning her. For the longest moment, dead silence trailed. Lucy tried her best to keep a straight face, but felt herself slipping away in the presence of Lisanna - who looked more and more hurt, and more and more pissed, with each passing minute. Lisanna inhaled deeply, and stormed out of the room - not giving anyone a second glance. Lucy sighed, before attempting to turn her gaze towards Natsu - who looked embarrassed, yet frustrated.

"I don't get why she's acting like this." Natsu crossed his arms while sitting on one of the empty tables. "How are we still fighting about menial shit, even though we're not together anymore?!"

"Maybe if you hadn't broadcasted me on your SnapChat story, we wouldn't be dealing with this." Lucy responded, equally frustrated. Natsu took immediate notice of her tone, and looked at her with a stunned expression. "You would've had to know that she would see it. And you posted it anyway!"

"I didn't mean to cause damage." Natsu said, almost in a pleading manner. He could sense that Lucy was annoyed and upset with him, which started causing a state of panic within his voice. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable - I just… I just wanted to record you singing."

"I'm not saying you hurt me."

A brief and mild wave of relief rushed over Natsu when he placed her eyes on Lucy's delicate, and yearning face. "You did anything but hurt me. Last weekend was also… one of the best weekends I've had in a long time."

Lucy tried her best to prevent succumbing to her vulnerability, but was feeling incredibly weak with Natsu standing close by her. She knew she couldn't give into what she wanted… even though she felt physically restrained from stepping backwards. She couldn't do it with ease at all - it was as if her feet were trapped with permanent glue. She wanted to be near him, she wanted him to hold her like he did the other night, and she wanted him to kiss her - really badly. However, despite the lust filling her body, she used every last bit of strength she had bottled in her to choke up those dreaded words.

"But… I… I can't do this, Natsu."

With his eyes shooting up, Natsu's expression went bleak. Lucy could tell that he wasn't expecting to hear that from her - especially after the connection they had. However, Natsu wasn't able to tell that Lucy didn't want to say what she did - but she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't afford to keep any more secrets, or tell any more lies. "You're an amazing person, believe me. But... I just can't be involved in this."

But just as Lucy was about to open the door, Natsu stood up, and rushed towards her. Noticing he was just a few inches away from her, she turned around to face him. It was obvious she was lying through her teeth - she didn't want to stop seeing him, and Natsu caught that. "I know you don't mean that."

"Natsu... please..." Lucy begged, as she leaned her back against the door, while staring into Natsu's piercing eyes. There was no use in convincing him - he wasn't buying her bullshit. "Please, just let it go."

He brought himself closer, bit by bit, causing Lucy's knees to grow weaker and weaker by the moment. She wanted to kiss him then and there, but she didn't want to hurt Lisanna - not anymore. No matter what they had gone through in the past, and no matter what they had done to each other, Lucy didn't want an enemy in her again. However... with Natsu standing so close to her... the conflict became severe. His lips were so close to hers - she could already taste them. She felt herself dropping her guard, reluctantly allowing him to get closer to her, little by little.

But before their lips had the slightest chance to touch, the first bell to third period cut them off abruptly.

"…" Lucy struggled to find any words, while breaking off all eye contact they previously had. Not being able to say anything more, Lucy mustered the will to go through the door, without stopping to glance back at Natsu - who ran his hands over his face in frustration.

…

Over the next three weeks, Natsu and Lucy didn't speak to each other; more accurately, Natsu's efforts to talk to her had been shut down with rejection, over and over again. Juvia wasn't able to get much of an answer out of Lucy as to why she was avoiding Natsu - as Lucy wouldn't mention him around her. Over the weeks, Lucy became re-acquainted with Sting and Lyon, however, her secret was still guarded. They never talked about the girls around her, or with their friends. It had been months since the accident took place, and to the three of them, not mentioning it was their best coping method.

For Lucy, avoiding Natsu had been the hardest out of everything. She saw him everywhere she went, and sat a few seats in front of him in Calculus. There were times when Lucy could feel Natsu looking at her, and would suppress the urge to glance back at his direction. Even though not associating with Natsu spared Lucy of Lisanna, she began to wonder if it was really worth it. With Natsu, she didn't feel afraid. She felt a renewed sense of courage and determination; it was as if she was born-again around him. The sexal tension grew between them little by little as each day went by, and it became increasingly harder for both of them to be anywhere near each other.

It was the end of the school day, and the halls had been emptying slowly over the minutes after the last bell. Lucy said her goodbyes to Juvia - who left quickly for a date she had planned with Gray, and was wandering around the almost-empty hallways. Crashes of thunder could be heard from the outside - indicating a near-future downpour. The windows were no longer allowing sunlight to pass through, as dark-grey clouds blanketed the entire sky.

As she was about to make it through the door herself, Lucy noticed the sound of a distant melody coming from the school's Music Room. Curious, she found herself walking towards it. Something about the ambience felt familiar to Lucy - almost as if she'd heard it before. As she approached the entrance, she found the door ajar. Opening it further, she peered herself into the room - being careful not to interrupt whoever was working in there.

Lucy's eyes were met with the back of a young man's head. He had long, dusty-brown hair that touched the end of his neck. He was tucked inside of a chair, with his face in front of a computer. A black, covered piano was parked beside of him, and with a wall placed to the other side, the little corner he was in appeared to be his own little space. It wasn't until he stood up to turn around, when Lucy was able to see his face.

" _Are you sure he goes to this school?"_

 _Lucy had been rubbing her hands together for the past fifteen minutes inside of their car. The four girls decided to take the afternoon off of school to drive to Magnolia High; Lucy had been spending a lot of time online, looking through SoundCloud and Youtube for a domestic composer to help her make a song for the Movie Soundtrack Contest. Her strongest suit being lyrics, Lucy knew next to nothing about production work, or mixing. However, she stumbled across a SoundCloud artist who had been releasing songs for a playlist titled 'Blue Neighbourhood'. "I mean, I don't even know if he's going to agree to it!"_

" _Dude, come on." Sherry teashed, while keeping her eyes firmly on the road. She took one hand from the steering wheel and placed it on Lucy's hands - which were hanging on her lap. "Who would pass the opportunity to work with you?"_

" _I don't even know this guy…" Lucy sighed, as she leaned her head against the side of the window. She really was desperate for a composer._

" _It's not like he's some serial-killer slash rapist." Yukino chirped in, trying to ease the tension. "Plus, you wouldn't let any of us help you with the production, so we need to find other sources."_

" _I didn't want any of you to help because at the end of the day, we're still a group, and whatever we do, we do it together." Lucy replied, preventing Yukino from saying anything else. "I already feel bad for not doing this as Fairy Tail… I don't want to make it worse."_

" _Hey, we were the ones who encouraged you." Sherria extended her hand from the backseat, to reach Lucy's shoulder. Lucy smiled, while reaching for her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze._

" _And I appreciate that. More than you know."_

 _After a few more minutes, the girls reached Magnolia High. It was lunch time, and all the students had already filled the school yard - eating, talking, and hanging out with each other. Once Lucy and the girls got out of the car, Sherry approached the girls from the driver's seat. "We should wait here until Lucy comes back."_

" _You guys aren't coming inside with me?"_

" _It's your song. It's probably best if we don't interfere." Sherria explained, as she put her arm around Lucy._

" _Alright." Lucy responded, also putting her arm around Sherria, giving her a half-hug. Looking at Yukino and Sherry, she smiled softly. "I won't keep you for long."_

 _Nodding, the girls stepped back towards their car, watching Lucy disappear into the crowd of students. After a solid moment of walking past them, they began to recognize Lucy. Excitement and curiosity quickly filled the masses; some students asked for quick autographs, while some others commended on how much they loved Fairy Tail's music. Because of this, getting into the school building itself took quite a bit longer._

 _While inside, more students took notice of Lucy - cheering for her, and congratulating her for their album release. Trying her best to stay on her feet, Lucy was approached by another one of Magnolia High's students. The short, and seemingly sweet dark-haired girl's eyes were beaming. "Hey Lucy! I'm Allison, and I just wanted to say I'm really loving your guys' album!"_

" _Thanks!" Lucy replied back, with emitting happiness. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. Do you know where I can find Dan Hirano? I really need to speak to him."_

" _Uhh, yeah, I think I know where he is." Allison said, while checking around her surroundings. Turning towards Lucy once again, she smiled. "Do you want me to get him for you, or do you want to come along with me?"_

 _After thinking for a brief moment, Lucy nodded. "I'll go with you. Maybe you can tell me a little more about him."_

" _Sure!" Allison responded happily. As they both walked alongside each other, getting past the sea of students, Allison began detailing Dan's artistic ability, and doing her best to summarize it. "Blue Neighbourhood is turning to be his biggest project. It almost sounds like a movie soundtrack. It's so atmospheric and romantic. I can't wait to hear what the whole playlist sounds like." Hearing the details of Dan's work made Lucy feel more and more confident about her decision. And helped her feel more at ease. "Oh, by the way, he loves you."_

" _Really?" Lucy asked, taken aback by the statement._

" _Oh yea." Allison nodded. "He thinks you're the best singer for our age."_

 _After reaching the second floor of the school building, Allison led Lucy near an open classroom. Turning around to face her, Allison stopped walking. "I'm sure he's in there. Do you want to come in, or wait here?"_

" _I'll wait here for a little bt." Lucy replied, with a hint of deviousness. "I want to surprise him."_

 _Giggling softly, Allison walked inside of the classroom, trying to keep her excitement down to prevent seeming obvious. There were a few people inside the room, branched into two groups. Allison found Dan amongst some of the other students enrolled in Music classes. "Hey Dan, there's someone here to see you." Allison informed him once she walked towards his group._

" _Who is it? Did something happen?" Dan asked, visibly becoming slightly tense._

 _Shaking her head, Allison smiled reassuringly. "Nothing like that! You have a special visitor!"_

 _Seeing the excitement in her face, Dan giggled. "You seem awfully chipper about it. Are you going to tell me who it is?"_

" _If I told you Lucy Heartfilia was outside this door right now, would you believe me?"_

 _Dan's eyes suddenly went wide. But before he was able to find any words to reply with, a blue-haired girl named Juvia - who was with her boyfriend Gray - chirped in after eavesdropping into their conversation. "I'd advise you to come up with better pranks, because there's no way anyone would believe that."_

 _Shrugging, Allison started stepping backwards. "Well, your advice would make sense, if I had actually been lying." She headed for the exit, and a few seconds after the peered out of the door, Lucy walked in, with a flashing smile, and a quick wave._

" _Oh my god!" Juvia exclaimed - even her boyfriend was taken aback after seeing Lucy come inside the classroom. The people inside the classroom went silent, with a few whispers of astonishment floating. Dan went speechless; his jaw looked as if it was about to hit the ground. The term 'starstruck' was an understatement at that moment._

" _Hello!" Lucy said enthusiastically, extending her arm in front of Dan, who swiftly took it. "I'm Lucy! It's so nice to finally meet you!"_

" _U-umm, hi!" Dan said, clearly nervous, but extremely excited. "I'm Dan."_

A few moments passed after seeing Dan's face, but for Lucy, the time elapsed felt like hours. However, a sudden clash of thunder startled her, and at the same time, prompted Dan to jerk his head behind him to see who gasped.

"Umm…" Lucy felt herself going numb as soon as her eyes met Dan's. "I'm so sorry, I was just passing through. I didn't mean to disrupt you."

Before Lucy could leave, Dan took a few steps forward, and stopped her. "No, you weren't disrupting me."

Lucy let out a shy smile. "I heard a melody while I was on my way to leave the school. I guess I wanted to find out where it came from."

Chuckling, Dan ran his hand through his hair. "Yea, the Music Room is basically my home." Extending his hand towards Lucy, he smiled. "I'm Dan."

After staying idle for a brief moment, Luck took his hand among hers. "I'm Lucy."

* * *

 **Dan's character is inspired by Troye Sivan in his 'Blue Neighbourhood'**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Raining Memories**

" _You actually want me to help you compose a song?"_

 _Dan had been staring at Lucy with an appearance of astonishment the moment when Lucy had asked for his help on an entry for the contest. A struggling musician himself, Dan never quite imagined to have the opportunity to collaborate with a member of an independent group who were able to achieve success on their own terms - something he aspired to do in the future with his own music. "But, why me?"_

" _I'll be honest with you." Lucy directed her eyes straight at him; a look of uncertainty and guilt trembling over her face. "I didn't want to go outside of Fairy Tail. However, I'm only allowed to do this contest with one other person. I didn't want to do this without all of them, so the only other person who I felt confidence in… was you."_

" _Really…?" Dan's eyes soothed once he heard the words come out of Lucy's lips._

 _Nodding her head, Lucy smiled. "I loved 'Blue Neighbourhood'. That's the kind of vision and base I want on my song. You're an excellent producer and music-writer; it would be an honour to work with you."_

" _Honour to work with me?!" Dan shrieked, startling Lucy in return. "The honour is all mine. I'd love to work with you!"_

 _A flush of relief shone through Lucy's face, as she smiled with excitement. "Thank you!"_

" _Thank YOU." Dan replied back, this time putting his arm out towards Lucy for her to shake. "So, when do we start?"_

" _Can I meet you here, say... after school tomorrow?"_

 _After seeing Dan nod in agreement, they exchanged their contact information. Waving goodbye to each other, Lucy proceeded to walk away from the classroom, and towards the stairs that led to the main doors of the school. Just as she was walking, she passed a group of students standing idle next to a bunch of lockers. One of them had spiky salmon-shaded hair and a muscular built, and his arm was wrapped around a familiar-looking student with really short, silver-dyed hair._

" _What the fuck are you doing here?" Lisanna snapped as soon as the two girls met eyes, knocking her boyfriend's arm off of her._

" _Do I know you?" Lucy turned around to face her for a brief moment, before smirking and turning away. Aggravated, Lisanna hit Natsu's shoulder once she caught him quietly snickering._

 _..._

"So, how are you liking it in Magnolia High?" Dan asked, while wrapping the portable microphone wire around itself. The work desk he was stationed in had a desktop, multiple wire plug-ins, a keyboard, and a portable pad attached to the hard drive.

Shrugging, while watching Dan at his station, Lucy sighed. "It's been an interesting month so far."

Reaching for one of the shelves that stored other portable microphones, Dan turned back around to face Lucy at his desk. "It's been an interesting few months for a lot of us."

Noticing the confused expression on Lucy's face, Dan smiled sadly. "You heard about the accident, right?"

The feeling of being frozen in time rushed over Lucy's body. Seeing Dan's expression once he mentioned the incident slowly started to fill the memory gaps in her head - the ones that were beginning to disappear with every day that went by. Not being Lucy Heartfilia… she was crafting a whole new existence for herself. It was as if the former life she had lived was slowly becoming a myth. "Yea… yea I did."

"It's just not fair…" Dan's tone became a little more harsh once Lucy finished her words. The frustration was evident, and Lucy felt the urge to grab Dan by his shoulders and tell him that she was there… right in front of him. She was alive. She was still breathing. She was just… in too much pain. Before she knew it, a tear jerked out of Lucy's eye. Dan's eyes fell onto that single teardrop sliding down Lucy's blush pink cheek, his frustration soon morphed to concern. "I-I'm sorry… are you okay?"

Quickly sensing a cold breeze flying by her cheek, she rushed to wipe the tear away. "Y-yea… I guess.. I'm just… I'm so sorry."

Dan gave her a small smile. "If anyone has to be sorry, it should be me… to Lucy." Noticing Lucy jerking her head slightly at the name, he quickly rebuffed. "The lead singer's name was… is… also Lucy. She survived the accident… but no one heard from her after. I didn't even try to reach out to her… I didn't know how to."

Remaining silent, Lucy listened to Dan with a heavy heart of her own. "We were friends… but I let her down. I should've been there for her. I can't even imagine what she must've gone through - and what she's still going through. I didn't know how to approach her. I didn't know how I was supposed to comfort her. I just… I failed, in every account."

Frozen, all Lucy could feel through Dan's words were constant pounding in her body. Every word hit her like a brick. She didn't know whether to feel betrayed… or hurt for Dan. Her eyes evolved into expressing more and more pain, although she was trying her damn hardest to keep it inside. "I'm sorry about all this… but… I just needed to admit to all of it - at least eventually."

Lucy's eyes diverted from the floor, and refused to go back up to meet Dan's. She couldn't bring herself to look at him now. Trying to resist more tears from showing through her eyes, Lucy took a deep breath. "No… umm… thank you for sharing that with me." Taking a deep breath, she jerked her tilted head to the side. "She… she must've been someone special."

Although Lucy couldn't see Dan nodding his head, she was able to hear Dan sigh. "Yea. That's putting in lightly."

Soon enough, a crashing boom of thunder broke the moment of silence that was lingering between the two. Pulling her head back up, Lucy looked at Dan, and managed to squeeze out a fake-genuine smile. "I should go… before the weather gets any worse."

Nodding in return, Dan smiled back at her - only his was noticeably more sincere. "It was nice meeting you. I hope you come by the music room more often."

"Yea…" Lucy responded. "I'll try to."

Pulling her jacket hood almost over her head to conceal both her head and her face, Lucy proceeded to walk down the wet, rainy sidewalks. The rain wasn't as bad as it was about an hour ago, but the thunderstorm still had long ways before it would go away. As she took her steps forward into the pattering rain, she took her iPod out, with her earbuds attached to them. Placing those earbuds in her ears, she scrolled through a list of unopened songs… until she reached the one.

Hitting play, Lucy let the words of the song fill her head with both pain, and comfort.

 _I don't want your body_

 _But I hate to think about you with somebody else_

 _Our love has gone cold_

 _You're intertwining your soul with somebody else_

This was it. This was their song.

 _I'm looking through you while you're looking through your phone_

 _And then leaving with somebody else_

 _No, I don't want your body_

 _But I'm picturing your body with somebody else_

The theme that was needed to be taken account of was pain. Pain of lost, pain of betrayal, but going in and out of denial in accepting that pain. The one you loved - who you gave your heart to - has now seemingly and effortlessly moved on from you with another. Dan helped Lucy create that pain within herself, so she could put the words on paper. That, accompanied by Dan's heartbreakingly flawless production made what seemed to be a picture perfect replica of what needed to be represented.

 _Oh, I just don't believe that you have got it in you_

 _'Cause we are just gonna keep "doin' it" and every time_

 _I start to believe in anything you're saying_

 _I'm reminded that I should be gettin' over it_

Lost in the words she had put together many months ago, Lucy began to lose track of her steps. It was as if her destination no longer mattered - as she didn't even have a sense of direction to begin with. What was she doing? Did she really think it'd be this easy to erase Lucy Heartfilia from existence... just like that? Why didn't it register in her mind that there would be so many different roadblocks? Lucy's mind slowly went blank, bit by bit. She almost had no sense of her surroundings... she almost didn't hear the roar from the nearby motorbike that was just about to pass her.

"Lucy?!"

Turning her head around, Lucy's eyes were greeted with a familiar figure with his signature salmon-dusted hair. His motorbike was the same as ever - sleek and sexy. Removing his helmet, Natsu revealed his concerned and angered expression towards Lucy. However, that anger soon disappeared once Natsu noticed her red, puffy eyes; she had been crying, and it seemed like Lucy herself didn't even realize. "Luce... what are you doing here?!"

* * *

 **Song used in chapter:** Somebody Else by the 1975


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Tastes Like Lucky Strike**

"I'm going home."

Lucy was secretly hoping Natsu would take her hint - as she was trying really hard to make it obvious that she wanted to be left alone. However, the reality was she felt a wave of relief seeing him. She wanted him to hold her, shielding her from the outside world that kept throwing knives at her… but she knew that being near him any longer would only just cause both of them pain.

"You're not going home like that - you'll get sick!" Natsu exclaimed as he parked his motorcycle right next to where Lucy was on the sidewalk. Proceeding to get off, Natsu took off his jacket, and draped it over Lucy's shoulder.

"Natsu, please -

"Just, let me do this." Natsu adamantly suppressed Lucy's urges at a refusal as he also reached for the helmet that was protecting his own head. Placing it gently over Lucy's own head, Natsu smiled. "C'mon. I'm taking you back to my place."

"But -

"No buts." Natsu responded, with a tone of sterness. "There is no way I'm letting you catch a cold."

Finally surrendering to Natsu's persuasion, Lucy took the hand that was extended towards her. Getting onto the motorbike, Lucy's arms were gently placed onto Natsu's shoulders. A sensation of familiarity and pleasure shot through Lucy's whole body. She was touching Natsu after weeks of no contact… and as much as she wanted to stay away from him, she couldn't deny that she wanted to feel him again.

"Hold on tight."

Even his voice sounded like smooth butter - silkier than she had remembered. She felt the goosebumps rush through her arms, and send a shiver down her spine. She felt pure bliss as her hands maintained upon his shoulders, carefully spreading every inch of her palms across the leather jacket he had draped over himself. Domes of raindrops were perched on top, and Lucy's hands were freezing… but she didn't care. She wanted to feel what she could feel against her skin.

Feeling the motorbike slowly coming to a halt, Lucy's daydreaming mind came to face reality. Natsu got off of the bike, while extending his hand towards Lucy's direction. Taking it immediately, Lucy carefully guided herself off the motorbike. Before she could turn towards Natsu, he already had his hands full with the helmet that was nuzzling on Lucys head. Patters of raindrops fell on her face gently as the helmet came off, and their eyes met for a brief second. Realize the stare was lingering, she quickly pulled away and blinked. Grabbing her hand, Natsu quickly pulled Lucy towards the door, trying to avoid getting any more soaked than they already were.

Prying the door open to a bungalow, Natsu and Lucy quickly tumbled in the house. As they both took off of their shoes, Natsu pointed down the hall ahead of the entrance, and glanced at Lucy. "Shower. I'll bring you a towel and some clean clothes."

"But -

"If you don't want to catch a fever, then take a shower." Lucy's attempts to protest Natsu came to a screeching halt with his dominant persistence. Giving into his demands, Lucy sighed as she made her way to the bathroom. The house was relatively clean, with a few clothes and books lying here and there. Once Lucy entered the bathroom, Natsu came out of one of the rooms, and handed her a black towel, as well as a T-shirt and sweatpants.

Holding up the T-shirt, Lucy chuckled. "I didn't know you liked Bugs Bunny."

"I got it when I was 12…" Natsu mumbled under his breath, clearly looking annoyed. Lucy smirked, enjoying him getting embarrassed. "Okay, hurry up and shower, will you?"

Shrugging, Lucy nodded her head, and closed the washroom door when Natsu got out of the way. Turning the shower on, Lucy became lost in her thoughts. The steam fogged up her eyes, but her mind was moving at lightning speed. She was in Natsu's house - who she hadn't seen in weeks - and she was taking a shower, in his house. She couldn't help but admit missing him through the time she was avoiding him - often thinking about those small moments they shared together that continue to bring shivers throughout her body… however, she still harboured fears of letting too many people get too close to her.

Turning off the faucet, Lucy stepped out of the bathtub, only to be greeted by a foggy mirror. Approaching it as slowly as she could, she wiped the steam off of the mirror with her bare hands, exposing her face, whereas the rest of the steamed mirror blurred the rest of her body. Seeing her reflection in the mirror was different for her now; the brunette with the curls was no longer staring back at her. She was now looking at a shell she masqueraded behind, hoping to make it her permanent identity in the hopes it'll prevent the trauma from hurting her even more than it already had.

Natsu's clothes seemed a little old, but they were small enough to fit Lucy, but large enough to give her breathing room. Wrapping the towel around her hair, Lucy stepped out of the washroom, and walking down the small hallway to the living room. It looked as if Natsu tidied up the space a bit while Lucy was in the shower, and Lucy also noticed two mugs of hot chocolate placed on a mauve coffee table which was placed in from of a matching sofa where Natsu was also sitting. He brought his eyes up to her , and smiled while placing a hand next to the empty space by him. "Come. Sit."

Nodding her head, Lucy took her seat next to Natsu, and grabbed one of the cups of hot chocolate, which warmed her up right away. "Thank you." Not letting her eyes meet his, she took a sip from the cup, before placing it back down on the table. She felt the goosebumps once again, flooding her entire body. The tension was building up in the room quickly, and Lucy had no idea how to start a conversation. Having him so close to her felt so good, yet so painful… she wanted him to stop wasting time and kiss her, although realizing that it wasn't realistic of her to think this way.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

The tension was finally cut from Natsu's bluntness, which took Lucy by surprise - and enough to bring her eyes to his, which never left her face. While his was filled with longing, hers were filled with guilt.

Opening her mouth to speak, Lucy felt herself jittering. "I wasn't trying to ignore you, it's just -

"You've been avoiding me for weeks." Natsu affirmed what Lucy didn't want to admit. After going silent for a little bit, Natsu sighed. "Was it because of Lisanna?"

Lucy jerked back at the sound of her name, but tried her best to refrain from being too obvious. She didn't want Natsu to notice her discomfort, but she also realized she needed to say something. Anything. "I just… didn't want to be on anyone's bad side."

"Is that really it?" Natsu sounded incredibly unconvinced, and Lucy couldn't blame him. She knew if she was fed the same excuse, she wouldn't buy it either. "I know Lisanna can be… well… a bitch, but if you're gonna let her stand in the way of what you want -

"How do you know this is what I want?!" Lucy snapped back before Natsu could finish that sentence, which evidently made him shut up instantly. Lucy could sense his shock, but she was upset enough to let that slide past her. "You literally JUST broke up with her - how do you think it's gonna look if you and I start..." She was almost not even aware of the words that were coming off of her mouth.

"I don't care what she thinks!" Natsu's tone was on the verge of pleading, which took Lucy aback. "For years, no matter what I felt for her, she's always ruined the smallest things for me. It was like I wasn't even allowed to be myself around her." Taking a deep breath, he placed the tips of his fingers against his temple, trying to relive some of the pressure. "Honestly, even though I loved her... I'm glad she left me."

Lucy honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing at the moment. Even though it was the first time she heard someone be happy over a breakup, her face turned a shade of red. Hearing him talk about a sense of freedom... it felt special. But what made it more special, was that he wanted her to be a part of that.

"But..." Natsu's voice cracked ever so slightly, but caught Lucy's ears. "Even though I don't want you to stay away, I won't stop you if you don't want this."

The hurt wasn't that evident, but it as noticeable enough for Lucy to pay attention. And Lucy could feel a ball forming in her throat. She didn't want him to step away - she wanted him right where he was. She was scared to crack her walls, but she wanted to. Every bit of her wanted to break her barriers for him. She wanted to feel his hands on her, she wanted to feel his lips on hers. Lucy could feel her hands slightly shaking, as she tried to not show her vulnerability. Her voice slowly started to crack, but she spoke as confidently as she could, hoping Natsu would hear her.

"I don't want _you_ to stay away."

Natsu's eyes got larger, as he shot them straight back upon Lucy's, whose gaze lingered upon his. The tension could've been cut with a table knife. A few silent, passionate moments passed the two by, as if time stopped after Lucy uttered those words. Nothing around them, or outside of them mattered - it was just them that mattered. However, those moments didn't last too long, as Natsu let out a small giggle.

Baffled, Lucy scoffed. "What the hell is so funny?"

"I can't take you seriously with you wearing my Bugs Bunny shirt." Natsu chuckled, which made Lucy playfully shake her head irritatingly. "I feel bad giving it to you in the first place, but I didn't have a whole lot of options."

Laughing alongside Natsu for a little longer, Lucy's face suddenly went serious. It was almost as if whatever fears she held onto her until the last minute disappeared, and a wave of confidence came across her face. It was the kind of confidence that she hadn't visited since the night she spent with Natsu at the park; it wasn't just confidence, but also dominance. "If you can't take me seriously with it on, then why don't you take it off?"

Natsu's playful grin vanished, and it was replaced with a gradual build of lust in his eyes. Lucy noticed right away, and took this opportunity to get a little closer to him. Smirk intact, she raised her arms half-way up, and said. "Well…?"

She was aware she was playing a dangerous game. She was giving into her own desires, when she knew full well she shouldn't be.

A single, brief moment of sexual tension lingered between them, but was abruptly interrupted with Natsu cupping Lucy's cheek before crashing his lips onto her. Being gently pushed back on the sofa, Lucy's hands grabbed onto his hair, and her grip got tighter when she felt Natsu's hands around the bottom of her t-shirt, taking up her offer to tug it off. Not being able to wait any longer, she tore her own shirt off, and threw the towel wrapped around her hair onto the ground. Natsu's lips immediately trailed from her mouth down her neck, and finally onto her stomach. The tenderness of his lips sent a shiver down Lucy's back, as she felt her back arch.

Natsu began reaching for his own t-shirt, and tore his lips away from Lucy's body for a brief second. His bare chest was visible, and he was as muscular, sculpted, and toned as he was that night in the forest. Mesmerized, Lucy stood on her knees slowly, and brought her own lips to his chest - urging him to let out a soft moan from his lips. Trailing up while still on her knees, Lucy reached Natsu's own mouth, and their lips once again locked, and they caved into their hunger. Natsu's hands trailed all over her body; his touch brought a certain warmth that Lucy yearned for, and she was finally receiving it. The lust, the pain, the desire - it was all she could've ever hoped for, and it was right in front of her.

The patters of the rain can still be heard against the glass windows, the thunder kept roaring, but that didn't stop Lucy and Natsu from giving into each other for the night. The two of them found themselves getting off of the sofa, and trailing up the stairs to where the bedrooms are. Gently kicking one of the rooms pen, Natsu pulled Lucy in - continuing to kiss her, as he proceeded to close the door, hiding their shame from the outside world.

"Aren't your parents going to come home soon?"

Lucy's eyes never left Natsu's as she laid on the bed, with her head tilted towards him, and the sheets covering both of them. There was still a hint of daylight left outside, but the sun was starting to set. "Mom left for a conference for the day - she won't be back until tomorrow afternoon."

Lucy noticed that Natsu failed to mention his father, but instead of pressing him on the matter, Lucy swallowed her tongue. It had happened again - even though she promised herself she would no longer have anything to do with him. There was just something about Natsu that intrigued her so much - it wa as if he filled a gaping hole that had been left in her soul. He brought a certain comfort and confidence that was killed off of her. She didn't know what she felt for him, but all she knew was that she didn't want to stop spending time with him.

"Do you remember what you asked me the Monday after… everything happened?"

Squinting slightly, Natsu took a moment to understand what Lucy was talking about, until coming to the realization. "Yea, of course I do."

Clutching the sheets against her chest for support, Lucy sat up on the bed, while her eyes didn't leave Natsu's. "Why? And why me, specifically?"

Natsu sat up on the bed as well, with his back against the back bed frame. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what is a no-strings-attached 'thing' going to do for you, and why do you want to do it with me when you can probably get any other girl?"

There was a moment of silence, which reflected Natsu's inability to come up with the right answer then and there. His face also emitted confusion - almost the same confusion on Lucy's face at that very moment. But what followed that moment of silence, was a response that Lucy never expected from him.

"I wouldn't have wanted a no-strings-attached thing if it was anyone other than you - because I wouldn't have even looked at another girl."

Seeing the shocked, yet still confused expression on Lucy's face, Natsu continued. "With you, it just feels natural. You're easy to talk to, you're fun. I like being with you."

Lucy felt her face feel warm, and she could tell she was about to turn red. Whatever he had just said to her… she felt the same way. Besides worrying about Lisanna, being with Natsu did feel natural. Whatever they had going on, it really did feel natural. No pressure, no investment, no real emotion - just wholesome and free fun. Something to ease off the tension, the stress, and more importantly… the ache.

"I like being with you too."

With those words muttered off of her lips, Natsu smirked as he grabbed her waste, and brought her closer to him. With her legs wrapped around him, he trails his lips to her ear. "This stays between us?"

Giggling, Lucy nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way." And just like that, their lips were intertwined once more.

* * *

 **Natsu really fought for her... but did he fight for HER or for HIS own fix? This no-strings attached relationship will get complicated very soon, but we need to explore Lucy's back story a little bit.  
Be sure to review y'all! I know it's been a while but I'm going to try and upload a little more frequently.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Late Night Sessions (Part One)**

November slowly approached - as the chill of the winds could be felt all around the streets in the coming days. There were scatters of snowfall around, indicating that Winter was coming sooner than later. The week had almost come to an end, as the students were rushing to get to their last classes. Lucy clutched her books close to her chest, and made her way through the usually busy halls to make it to her Calculus block - the one class her and Natsu had together.

They were both careful over the last two months to keep their ordeal a secret from their friends - especially Lisanna. Juvia had an idea of what had been happening between the two, but Lucy made her promise to keep it to herself, and not mention it to anyone in fear that Lisanna would hear of it. What started as a scattered gig morphed into a Monday and Friday routine - Monday to sweeten a sour start to the week, and Friday to celebrate the end of the week and the beginning of a blissful weekend. There were often times when Lucy would wonder when their arrangement would end - as no-strings attached relationship were always bound to end. Natsu wasn't her boyfriend, and she wasn't his girlfriend. They were merely the one thing they both needed desperately at that moment - a distraction.

It's what Natsu fought so hard to get, and what Lucy didn't know she needed until he got her where he wanted her. A diversion from their own hardships - Natsu's broken heart, and Lucy's broken life. They were the temporary glue to the pitch black atmosphere that had been following them for months to come.

Lucy didn't mind if he didn't see her as anything more as a friends-with-benefits - she doubted she saw him as anything more than that herself. She liked what they had - it was simple easy, and drama-free... for the most part. Lucy hated that she was under Lisanna's scrutiny again, but keeping a distance from Natsu helped distancing Lisanna in return.

She knew she needed to maintain a distance - not just from Lisanna. From Natsu. From everyone.

That's why she couldn't bring it upon herself to see Natsu as anything more than a friend she's sleeping with.

Or why she couldn't bring to call Juvia a close friend.

She was still too afraid.

The classroom was fairly crowded, but she noticed Natsu sitting on top of a desk. Waving slightly to her, Lucy smiled and made her way towards the salmon-haired boy. "So, my place or yours?" Lucy made sure to keep her voice quiet enough so no one heard her.

Squinting his eyes, a smirk crossed Natsu's lips. "Nah, that's too predictable. I wanna make things interesting."

"Well, what else do we have besides your place and my place?" Lucy chuckled nervously. She couldn't help but feel as if Natsu had something sneaky up his sleeve - he was the mischievous one after all.

Pulling out what seemed to be a set of keys, Natsu's smirk stayed intact as he dangled them in front of Lucy. "Gray's place is ours for the night."

Lucy was dumbfounded, barely able to keep her mouth closed as she took the keys from Natsu's hand. "But... but... why would Gray give you the keys to his house?"

Giggling, Natsu took his finger and placed it playfully on Lucy's nose. "His parents are in and out a lot - and this weekend, they're out. Gray wanted to spend the weekend with Juvia and her parents, and he gave me the keys to the house."

"I guess that makes sense but..." Lucy's eyes were blinking rapidly. "I don't get what's so special about Gray's house, though..."

Winking slyly, Natsu took the keys back from Lucy's hand, and stuffed them back into his pockets. "Now that's gunna remain a secret."

Lucy hated the playful tone in his voice, but she couldn't help but giggle. She did love surprises, but she was itching inside to find out what it is. The teacher soon entered the room, and their planning for the night was put to a temporary halt.

Or so it seemed.

Normally texting in class could get you kicked out, sent to the principal's office, or even as far as a suspension if you're caught one too many times. But to Lucy and Natsu's benefit, their teacher's back was almost always faced towards them, making it near impossible for her to monitor them. Grabbing her cellphone from her pocket, Lucy opened her text messages.

 _Are you seriously not going to tell me? I'm losing my mind here!_

Lucy waited a brief moment to see if Natsu got the text - and sure enough, he was looking down on his own phone.

 **It'll spoil da fun dummy ;)**

Rolling her eyes, Lucy kept typing.

 _It's no fun waiting like this ya know..._ (-_-)

A barely audible laugh came from Natsu, as he replied back.

 **I knowwwww. I justlove buggin ya XD**

Lucy shot a glare towards Natsu's direction, which made him giggle softly.

 _I swear to God, I hate you sometimes._

 **Hmmmmm, okay, fine, buut, I bet you don't hate how I feel.**

Lucy felt her ears going red.. but to her fortune, her hair was covering them. Trying to avoid eye contact with Natsu, she rapidly started texting back.

 _You're getting punished for that._

...

"Luuuucy!"

Juvia waved from across the hallway as sh made her way towards Lucy's locker. Lucy was packing up for the day, and was about to grab her backpack. Smiling back at Juvia, Lucy was organizing her textbooks one last time to make sure the books don't crash on top of one another.

"I heard you and Gray were planning on spending he weekend with your parents?" Lucy said, while Juvia leaned next to her against one of the adjacent lockers.

Nodding her head, Juvia plastered another huge smile on her face. "I'm really excited! Gray and my parents get along really well - my dad and him always talk about Hockey, and he's also pretty handy in the kitchen!"

Seeing Juvia as happy as she was talking about Gray gave Lucy a sense of familiarity. It was a happiness she hadn't experienced in a while. The kind of happiness that can only come from the feeling of love - true, spirit-binding love. Whether it be romantic or platonic, it was a rare sensation anyone would be lucky to feel - a sensation Lucy hadn't experienced in quite a while. "You know Juvia, I love seeing you happy."

A twinkle flashed upon Juvia's eves, as she continued to gaze at a smiling, vibrant Lucy. Returning the favour, Juvia placed her hands together. "I love seeing you happy too, Lucy."

After giving her a quick hug, and a kiss on the cheek, Juvia started heading towards her locker - where Gray was supposedly waiting for her. However, before she disappeared, Juvia stopped to face Lucy again - which caught Lucy by surprise.

"I don't know what changed over the last few months... but you're not as reserved or timid as you used to be." Juvia closed her eyes, and a soft, simple smile grew on her face. "Don't lose it, okay?"

And with that, she was gone.

Blinking several times, Lucy tilted her head in confusion, but a few moments later, her entire face became beet red.

 _There's no way this has anything to do with Natsu._

Slamming her locker door, she made her way outside of the school building, hoping the army of students roaming the halls would conceal her obvious blushing.

...

"Okay... this is a nice house."

It was almost nine in the evening, and Natsu and Lucy had just arrived at Gray's house. It was moderately bigger than most of the other houses in the area - which told Lucy that the Fullbuster family must've had some remodeling and renovations done. Going inside of the two-story building, the interior was almost regal-looking, and the floors and counter tops were polished. However, Natsu's feet were taking him straight towards the backyard of all places - without exploring the rest of the house, or even showing Lucy around.

"Hey, aren't we going to go upstairs?" Lucy called out towards Natsu, while taking off her high tops.

Natsu shook her head as he turned around to face Lucy. "The house itself isn't that interesting - here is where it's at!" Natsu gestured Lucy to come towards the backyard to where he was, and Lucy sighed, but ultimately obliged. It was chilly - she had no idea why Natsu would want to spend their Friday together outside.

Her thoughts were immediately put to rest once she saw what was in the Fullbusters' backyard.

"A HOT TUB?!"

* * *

 **I had to do what I did back in Chapter Four and Five... split this in two parts. I'm so sorry but I promise I'll have the next part up by Friday! Get ready for a really steamy chapter!**

 **I guess more than anything... I wanted to tie up all the loose ends in this chapter, and get the story back on track! Hopefully I did that.**

 **Also, I made some modifications in the last chapter! So look out for that!**

 **Thank you again for the love! I really appreciate all of you! Keep reviewing! I do interact with my reviewers when I can - and I'll be doing it a lot more often now!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: So, I'm guessing reviewing isn't really a thing anymore? Haha, well actually, it doesn't really matter to me as much as it used to - and I'll tell you why: over the last week, this story has received more than 1,700 views, and that is just absolutely astonishing. I honestly can't believe it. So even if I don't get another review from you guys, it won't even matter, because at the end of the day, I know this story is reaching people in a way that is special, and meaningful. So from the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you. Thank you so so so much for your support. I honestly feel honoured that I can share my story with you, as it has been something that I've been working on for the last two years, with me perfecting the plot as best as I could, and making it unique and special. I hope you stick around for the future.**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: Late Night Sessions (Part Two)**

"I can't believe Gray trusted you with this, but I'm so glad he did."

The steaming water kissed Lucy's skin, as she sunk her body slowly and slowly into the tub. Tilting her head back, she pressed herself against the edge of the tub, relaxing every muscle in her body. Natsu wasn't in the hot tub yet; he had been beside the Bose speakers he had dug out of Gray's room, syncing them with his iPhone. He was barely wearing anything over his boxer shorts, and Lucy was worried by the minute about him catching a frostbite. "Dude, you're gonna get sick the longer you stand out there."

"Haha, don't worry, I'm almost done." Natsu tilted his head to meet Lucy's eyes, and offered a keen smirk, making Lucy's cheeks blush with a light shade of pink. His smile got her everytime - it was one of the sexiest things about Natsu. The continued distance that separated the two of them only increased Lucy's itch for him, and she was increasingly getting impatient with each minute that passed. Her eyes carefully examined Natsu's figure, as he continued to fiddle with his iPhone, looking as if he was looking for a playlist. A couple of moments later, the soft, crooning voice of Chris Brown could be heard from his song 'New Flame', and with that, Natsu set the phone down on the patio table.

Lucy closed her eyes, taking the smooth R&B melody slowly overtake her body. "I didn't know you were into Chris Brown." With the heat from the water, Lucy felt goosebumps running down her arms as she caught Natsu finally slipping into the water himself after being out of it for far too long.

"It just felt right." Natsu said smoothly, as he effortlessly glided over to where Lucy was at the tub. Lucy felt her body shiver as Natsu's fingers gently caressed her hips. Taking her hands up to the back of his neck, their lips collided. Natsu pushed Lucy gently against the edge of the hot tub, and his lips trailed away from her lips, making contact elsewhere on her skin, making Lucy release a soft grunt. Lowering his trail, Natsu found Lucy's neck, leaving wet, hot kisses down and around her neck and collarbone. Trailing further down, Natsu comes in contact with her lacy, indigo swimsuit top. Leaving soft kisses on her exposed skin, Natsu bit onto top - as well as nipping her sking alongside - causing Lucy to moan slightly. Not being able to go much further down due to the blazing hot water, Natsu brought his mouth back onto hers, and without objection or even receiving a proper invitation, Lucy parted her lips slightly, giving Natsu access to explore her mouth. The song had transitioned to "bitches broken heart", and Lucy's mind kept rushing at the attention she was getting.

 _He really knows his music._

Their lips came apart for a brief moment, with Natsu bringing them close to Lucy's ear. Shivering, Lucy's eyes were alerted when Natsu whispered softly into her ear. "Let's change things up a bit."

Confused, she continued staring at Natsu as he slowly backed away from Lucy. "What do you mean?"

"Let's play _Never Have I Ever_."

Trying to not laugh as his remark, Lucy bit her tongue. _He stopped touching me because he wants to play some dumb game?_ "There's only two of us... isn't that gonna be lame?"

"Not the way I play it." Lucy immediately noticed the familiar Natsu smirk that always made her weak. It wasn't just a sign of confidence, but it was also laced with mischief. She knew whatever twist he added to the game was only going to have her surrender to him. "We each have ten rounds. We take turns asking each other questions, and whoever admits to the most had to agree to give the other what they want for tonight."

Lucy's eyes turned confident as soon as Natsu set down the house rules for the game. Normally she would be tense, and willing to cheat her way out of a game to avoid whatever punishment was associated with the loss... but she didn't care this time. She was okay with dominating just as much as she was with being dominated. Either way, she would win. "Alright... you're on."

And with that, Natsu's smirk took center stage once again, making Lucy's spine tingle. "I'll go first."

The first few rounds were harmless - innocent questions. Lucy noticed Natsu wasn't as much of a bad boy as he admitted, but regardless of the front he had towards her, it was working for Lucy.

"Never have I ever ditched classes."

"Oh fuck you." Lucy laughed while shaking her head, confirming that as an 'I Have'. "Never have I ever lied about my age to a bouncer to get into a club that didn't check ID."

"Haha, nice try." Natsu was becoming unbreakable by the round. However... because Natsu wasn't the bad boy she was expecting him to be, she was now slowly heading towards the losing end. Even though she didn't mind losing, the smug, playful look on Natsu was gradually bringing out the competitive side of Lucy, as she knew she had to dig deeper to bring out some of the dark, hidden guilt traps.

It was now Natsu's turn to ask the question, and being one down, Lucy was on edge, hoping she would have to say "I Have Never" to whatever he was going to ask her. The moments of him having to think about what he was going to say felt like hours, but as soon as his mouth opened, she was put out of her misery...

... or was she?

"Never have I ever... ran away from home."

Time felt as if it stopped then and there.

 _Fuck._

Lucy lowered her head. The blood in her head was rushing, as the buried trauma was starting to flow up. Natsu's words kept rushing through her head in an uncontrolled whirl; she was trying really hard to make eye contact with him, knowing she'd instantly choke from telling her lie.

But it didn't matter.

"I... I h-have."

Laughing, Natsu gave Lucy a playful look. "I didn't know you had the guts to do something like that! What happened?"

Natsu completely failed to see Lucy's panic state. He didn't even realize her traumatic expression clearly emitted in front of him. Breathing in as slowly as she could, Lucy tried her very best to calm her nerves down.

 _I guess I should tell him..._

"I was... I was fourteen."

Lucy's words were barely audible, but Natsu was able to distinguish her soft whisper. He noticed an aura of nervousness, which prompted him to get closer to her. He wasn't as close to her where their skin made bare contact - but close enough to feel her anxiousness. Lucy's eyes slowly trailed up to meet his, and her eyes were met with Natsu's slightly concerned eyes. It looked as if he was now aware he pushed a button he shouldn't have, but before he could say something to divert from the topic, Lucy opened her mouth again, not objecting answering the question. "I remember it raining... that night."

Not fully understanding why, she tilted her head once again against the edge of the tub, allowing the memories to unearth.

"My dad was in his study; he had just finished whipping me that night with one of his belts. I broke the curfew rule - I was out with my friends until one in the morning."

Natsu's eyes widened, but Lucy didn't pay attention to him. She was focused entirely on unraveling the brutal, painful memory she had carefully buried over the last few years. "I remember my arms were covered in fresh marks, cuts, and bruises not just from that night, but from the other nights before. There were cuts on my body that were there for weeks that hadn't healed completely." A tear began to form in Lucy's eyes gradually with every world that came out of her mouth. "I would always tell myself that it was just because he was stressed form managing his many businesses, or the fact that Mom was no longer alive and he was alone and sad... or even that it was his way of showing me love."

 _"You worthless child! Why couldn't you have died instead of Layla?!"_

Lucy's eyes shut swiftly with the voices she started hearing in her head. Natsu's body reacted, almost reaching out to comfort her... but retreating just before his hand could make contact with her. Something told him she wanted her moment, with just her... and nobody else.

"But... my body stung with every move I made because of those bruises... and I knew I couldn't deal with it that any longer."

Closing her eyes, she gazed up into the frosty, but twinkling night sky. "I took my passport, 200 000 yen from his emergency vault, whatever clothes I could fit into my backpack, and a map... and I headed for my grandfather's house."

 _"Please keep my father distracted long enough for me to leave. Please! I'm sorry I'm leaving like this... but I can't stay here anymore!"_

"It's so weird..." Lucy sunk herself further and further into the heated water, trying to ease out her own built-up tension. "The maids that were under his payroll were the ones that helped me escape. They even poured out their own savings to give to me, and gave me the proper times the trains left to Magnolia."

"Getting from Yokohama to Magnolia wasn't easy... but it ended up being the best decision I ever made." Lucy sighed calmly, but soon enough, she turned to face a stunned Natsu with a small, and gentle smile. "Haha... who would've thought, right?"

Natsu was quiet as he could possibly be, even though his eyes didn't leave Lucy's. He was trying to process everything he had just heard come out of her mouth. His eyes caught the mist forming around her own eyes, but he noticed how hard she was trying to hold them back in, One thing he couldn't do, however, was understand the pain she felt then and there.

 _She ran away to save her life._

He felt a surge of guilt coming over him, as he came closer and closer to Lucy. Grabbing her legs as gently as he could, he brought her towards him, with her voluntarily wrapping her legs around him. Gently pushing her back against the edge, he pressed his nose against hers, before planting a soft kiss on Lucy's lips.

"Game over. I win."

Even though they were only on their seventh round, Lucy didn't object. Her emotions were overwhelmed, and she felt her head getting slightly dizzy. However, she put her best confidence front for Natsu, and looked as seductive as she could for him. "Alright. What do you want, then?"

A moment passed with out words, until Natsu nuzzled his nose against Lucy's neck, with his breath giving her goosebumps. "Let me give you what you want."

 _Holy shit..._

Taken completely aback from what he had just said to her, Lucy felt her body slowly tense up with nervousness. Natsu was always switching up his game, but this felt different to Lucy. He slowly are carefully placed his lips on her upper cheek, kissing away the tear that had left an imprint on her face. Feeling shivers all over her body, Lucy inhaled sharply. Natsu took this opportunity to tip her head back over the ledge, and placed lustful kisses all over her collarbone, neck, and bare chest. "Tell me what you want."

Lucy's head was spinning; her feet almost felt lighter whilst the heavy water was weighing her down. Natsu's lips praised her body in ways she couldn't have comprehended, and she felt her body flutter with the touches. "I want you..."

The words barely left her mouth - almost in the form of a light whimper. Her breathing was getting slightly heavier, whereas Natsu's hands were venturing further, reaching for the laces on the back of her bra. He started untying the, but only one by one. He wanted to tease Lucy, as she moaned. "Louder."

"I want..." Lucy was almost breathless from the pleasure. His hands sent her spine tingling, making her whole body surrender to his gentle, yet seductive touch. "I want... I want you." Finally finding her sense of voice, Lucy grabs for the back of his head, gripping onto his perfect, salmon-shaded hair. "I want you to give it to me like you've never had it before." That daring person that she had introduced to Natsu was back, and ready to impress and be impressed herself. She liked who she was around Natsu - bold, daring, and confident. She knew that he liked that about her too.

"Luce..."

Hearing the moan from his lips empowered her beyond anything else comprehensible.

...

"I never knew who my dad was."

It was almost midnight, and Natsu and Lucy thought it would've been better to take their dirty act inside, away from the late-night watchers. Lucy took Natsu's initial silence to mean he had fallen asleep, but his sudden voice startled Lucy enough to have her face his direction. "He died from a heart attack when I was one, and since then, it had just been the two of us."

Lucy was taking each one of this words in slowly, and a flutter of empathy appeared in her chest. Having a parent die was something she had experienced, even if it wasn't a parent she never truly knew. "I'm so sorry."

Shaking his head, Natsu chuckled softly. "I barely even knew the guy. I don't really have anything to miss."

Grabbing the sheets that wrapped her naked body, Lucy rested her head on Natsu's bare chest. "I know, but for me, it always felt weird seeing normal families with their adorable children walking around everywhere... knowing I never got to live out anything near that."

Unexpectedly, Lucy felt Natsu's hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair. "I really am sorry." His hands ventured over to her cheek - which had turned a slight shade of pink - to stroke it softly. The calmness of his touch lingered for a moment longer than it should've, forcing Lucy's eyes to close, taking in the warm feeling.

 _So much for no talking... huh?_


	16. Chapter 16

**WARNING: IF YOU ARE A FAN OF LISANNA, STOP READING THIS STORY.**  
 **I should've said this in Chapter One... SORRY!**

 **I made some slight changes to the last chapter. PLEASE READ IT AGAIN okay? I added anew scene XD.**

 **Chapter Sixteen: The Nod That Gave It Away**

 _"It was getting harder and harder to keep my secret buried. I was slowly starting to lower my walls - I almost didn't even sense they were cracking to begin with. I started trusting people again - seeing the good in them. At first, I didn't think too much of it, but I gradually saw the legacy Lucy Heartfilia and 'Fairy Tail' had left not just at the school, but around the city of Magnolia. I couldn't have even imagined so many people looking up to us - it was bittersweet to say the least. Being reminded of Fairy Tail on an almost daily basis, the pain of losing my family slowly started becoming more and more unbearable... but that pain was so gradual, that I didn't notice it for weeks and weeks to come."_

"Mira, I need to use the washroom..." Lisanna shot her hand up, looking visibly distressed. She remained quiet through most of Lucy's session, but her anxiety was evident with the gradual depth of Lucy's story.

Miss Strauss - who was simply Mira to her little sister - brought her eyes close together in disappointment and irritation. "Can't you wait Lisanna?"

Shaking her head vigorously, Miss Strauss sighed. Some of the other students were staring up at her with confusion at her sudden outburst, but as soon as she received the teacher's approval, Lisanna dashed out of the classroom as fast as her legs could carry her.

The door banged loudly as it closed after Lisanna's exit, but Lisanna was too flustered to even be remotely startled. Instead of going to the restroom like she had said she would, she leaned her back against the wall next to the classroom door. Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes as tightly as she could, trying to suppress the urge to scream.

 _This isn't happening..._

Lisanna could hear the classroom slowly erupted into a sea of questions behind the firmly closed door.

"What the hell was that...?" Juvia's look of concern was easily being reflected on everyone else's faces at the moment. "I've never seen her act this jittery before."

Sting's face went numb, with a sudden flow of realization. Glancing at Lyon, he found the words he needed to say, and swiftly blurted them out. "Didn't Lucy and Lisanna hate each other?!"

This sudden statement silenced the crowd immediately. Natsu's face also went white, as his own wave of comprehension took over him. It all made sense looking into the last couple of years in their relationship. The times of sudden anger, frustration, jealousy that Natsu never seemed to understand but would always get irritated at... they made sense. "I remember Lisanna was working on her own EP at the time when Fairy Tail was releasing tracks for their own. She was always going off about how much they sucked..."

Sting ran his fingers through his hair, frustratingly. "I remember Yukino coming to see me a few weeks before they released their own EP... she was really mad at something..." Slapping her hands against his head in frustration, Sting's voice reached levels of shrieking anger. "Why can't I remember what is was?!"

"I remember Sherry being upset over something around then too." Lyon pressed his fingers in between his temple, diving in equal levels of frustration as Sting. "She brought Lucy with her, and Lucy was just losing her mind about it."

"Do you think it had something to do with Lisanna?" Natsu's teeth were jittery, almost overwhelming with anger as to not seeing their connection earlier.

"No, I don't think so." Sting sighed, still irritated about his jaded memory. "I don't think they hated each other enough to actually care about what the other was doing."

Absorbing every word that was being said behind the closed door, Lisanna's eyes closed sharply for a few moments before re-opening - a face filled with dissatisfaction overtook her features. Taking out her cellphone from her pocket, she dialed one of the numbers in her contacts, and once they picked up, Lisanna's voice sounded hoarse, almost as if it was barely there.

"We have a problem."

...

"So, this dance is Disney-themed?"

The Fall Formal was soon approaching Magnolia High, and that has been the sole topic of conversation for days and days to come. Lucy and Dan had been spending time together in the music room, listening to various tunes, compositions, and poetry during some of their spare time. Dan was thoroughly impressed with Lucy's vast knowledge of classical and western music, however, she had never opened her mouth to sing them for him - only ever requesting Dan to sing them for her. "Yea, last-minute idea. The SU committee thought it would be a hit, since live-action Disney movies are becoming a thing."

"Interesting rationale." Lucy giggled, as she sat by the grand piano beside Dan's work station, playing a few major chord structures. "Are you gonna be performing?"

Chuckling in a manner that seemed to display bitterness, Dan began opening a music software on the computer om his work station to do last-minute fine-tuning on some of his work. "Yea, with none other than Lisanna."

That name always came back to slap Lucy in the face, no matter where she was or what she was doing. "You don't seem so happy about that." Lucy had stopped playing keys long enough to say that, to a tortured Dan.

"I don't love the idea of singing with the meanest girl in the school... but she is the best singer that I could find." Dan finished his touches on one of the percussion instruments on a track, before closing the software, along with his station. "I would've asked -

Catching his own distracted mind, Dan restrained from finishing his sentence, even though Lucy knew what he was about to say.

 _I would've asked Lucy to sing with me, if she were here._

Lucy loved singing with Dan - whether it was during their recording sessions or outside of them. Regardless of the fact that she paid him to help her write a song for a contest she initially wanted no part of, a genuine bond formed between the two of them. Lucy had always encouraged Dan to release his solo work whenever he felt he was ready to share his art with the world, and Dan brought out the best in Lucy as a vocalist. They loved singing soundtrack tunes together - notably because they complimented Lucy's naturally strong, broad voice. Feeling her face getting heavier with the moments, Lucy cleared her throat. "Anyways, I should let you get back to whatever it was that you were doing. I should get to my locker and -

Lucy's preamble was cut short by multiple pings from Dan's phone.

"God, I'm sorry, I forgot I had my notifications on this loud." Dan giggled, with Lucy responding with a half-smile of her own. However, Dan's laughter was soon masked with an expression filled with confusion after glancing at his phone. "That's weird... everyone's asking me if I saw the Grammy nominations."

Raising her eyebrow, Lucy shot a playful look at Dan. "Well, as the only musician that I see around here, I'm guessing that's why?'

"I guess, but... I've never gotten almost a dozen texts about it." Dan pulled up the Google app from his phone, and started searching up the Grammy nominations list. For a few minutes, the room was silent as Dan was scrolling the list. That silence was soon interrupted with screaming on Dan's end.

"What happened?!" A startled Lucy exclaimed, watching Dan put his mouth over his hand, trying to stop himself from screaming anymore than he already had. Instead of saying anything, he showed her his phone, with the text that seemed to have made Dan's entire day a million times better.

 _ **BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA  
**_ _SOMEBODY ELSE  
_ _(LUCY HEARTFILIA, DAN TAKAHASHI)  
Track From: As You And I Were_

"OH MY GOD!" Lucy's face instantly froze over with shock and disbelief. Dan's smile hadn't left his face, and Lucy had a feeling it wouldn't disappear anytime soon. Lucy's own thoughts were interrupted by a group of students - including Juvia, Gray, and Lisanna flooding into the music room, with excitement running through their veins.

"DUDE! THIS IS INSANE!" Juvia screamed, as she ran over to give Dan a bear hug, with Gray patting on his shoulder. "I can't believe this just happened!"

"I don't... I don't even remember submitting the sing for consideration!" Dan said nervously but also enthusiastically - clearly satisfied with the outcome. "David must've done it himself..."

"You're certainly going to be the talk of the entire city." Lisanna smirked, while giving a hesitant Dan a quick, but seemingly insincere hug. "You must feel pretty awesome right now."

The other students gathered all around Dan to shower him with compliments, and words of encouragement, whereas Lucy tried really hard to keep her mouth shut, as she watched everything unfold in front of her eyes. Dan's eyes were filled with pride, joy, and bliss. It is every artist's dream to be recognised by the Recording Academy - it's something a lot of artists devote their whole careers for. Often times, some of the biggest names in music go without the prized trophy for years and years, and here, two unsigned, foreign musicians were able to garner a nomination. A tear fleeted Lucy's eyelid without her noticing, but quickly wiped it away before anyone else could detect something was wrong with her, and tried to keep her composure as best as she could in front of Dan.

"Oh my god, I gotta tell Lucy that we -

What followed after that statement was dead, horrid silence.

All of a sudden, everyone in the room lost all the enthusiastic-filled and joyous words they previously came packed with to the brim. Lucy inhaled sharply, while glancing over to Dan's now distraught face. He was hurt. It was almost too evident. Lucy was almost able to feel his sudden strike of pain from where she was standing, despite a group of people separating them. Silence filled the room for what seemed like ages, until Dan cleared his throat, wiping away a tear roughly.

"Excuse me."

Lucy wanted to chase after him as she trailed his movement outside of the music room. However, a familiar pressure from Lucy's arm. Juvia stood close by her, noticing Lucy's desire to dart out the door herself. "I think he just wants to be alone for a bit."

Turning around to face Juvia, she saw a off-placed calmness across her face. The once upbeat, cheerful Juvia was sombre. "He just really misses her, you know?"

The lunch bell rang moments after Lucy nodded towards Juvia. Lunch was over, and third period was about to start. Watching the cluster of people leaving the room, Lucy reached for her bag, only to withdraw her hand. Her third period alternated between History, and a free period - as her History class was a full year class. Normally, she would spend her spare block catching up on homework, or any assignments that needed crucial attention, however, the mere sight of the grand piano sat in the music room tempted Lucy to stay just a little longer.

Approaching the piano again, Lucy brushed her fingers against the keys, and allowed herself to switch up to minor chords. Following a similar riff, she started humming to herself to get the rhythm right. Once she was on beat, everything came naturally. It was simple, minimal, but beautiful.

It was their Grammy-nominated song.

 _"I don't know how I'm gonna do this."_

 _Lucy frustratingly threw her notebook on the ground, only to have an pick it back up a second later. "Hey, don't give up."_

 _Suffering from severe writers' block, and complete confusion on how to execute the theme of heartbreak, Lucy rubbed her face with both of her hands. "We've been here for an hour, and the only thing I can write down is 'I don't want your body'."_

 _"We agreed that it would be the core phrase of the song, right?" Dan picked up a pen from his work station, jotting down the words on the notepad, and drew a circle around the phrase. After seeing Lucy nod, Dan started drawing a few branches. "Think about this, even if you had your heartbroken, even if you were cheated on, even if you absolutely do not want to see that person again ever, wouldn't you sill hate the idea of them with some other person?"_

 _"I... yea." Lucy needed a moment to think about her answer, before she actively lied to herself. Even though she never had a serious boyfriend, she couldn't even stand to picture her flings messing with other women. It was just part of human nature._

 _Passing the notebook to Lucy, Dan shot Lucy a quick smile. "There's your starting point."_

 _Pausing for a moment, Lucy started envisioning a_ _scenario of her partner cheating on her. What emotions would she go through? How would she even try to process it? Would she even hear it from him? "I'm not gonna wanna believe it if I hear about him banging other girls behind my back."_

 _"Why not?" Dan looked at Lucy, curiosity flooding the gates of his eyes._

 _"Denial - the first stage of grief." Lucy took the pen in her own hands this time, and started writing down some words. "I'm gonna want to defend hi because I still love him."_

 _"And what will happen if you let it sink in even more?"_

 _Lucy made more scratches on the notepad, before pausing for a brief second to think about what Dan had just asked her. "I'd just leave at that point... cause I wouldn't be able to look at him."_

 _Taking a few more moments to construct her verses, Lucy takes a final read of her finished product. Satisfied with what she had written, she hands the notebook over to Dan. "I think I'm getting somewhere."_

Lucy immersed herself into the soothing, yet sad melodies being played off of the piano. It was a state of mind she had to create from a state of pretense, but an's handling of the production made it seem realistic, and all the more painful.

 _Get someone you love?  
Get someone you need?  
Fuck that, get money.  
I can't give you my soul, 'cause we're never alone. _

Even with most of the bridge not rhyming, Lucy felt the anger coming out of her throat. Happiness was dead, and her imaginary ex-boyfriend killed it with one too many whores.

 _I don't want your body  
But I hate to think about you with somebody else_

Her signature belting took over the initial breathy tone, as she commanded the chorus with more raw emotion, and uncharted power. Letting the last few chords play out, and sink into her mind, Lucy tilts her head back, in awe of what had just happened - what the fruits of their labour were.

 _We're up for a Grammy._

"I knew there was something about you that didn't seem right... but I just didn't know what it was until now."

Startled at the statement, and he familiarity of the voice, Lucy shot up from the stool and turned to face the speaker. Dan was planted in front of the door, with shock written all over his face. Lucy's mouth parted open, trying to say something... but no words could part from her lips.

"I know it's easy to learn the chords for the song... but Lucy is the only person I know that plays while tapping her feet in perfect synchronised patterns." Dan started walking towards her direction, making her heartbeat go up moment after moment. "She's also the only singer I know that has a consistent vibrato whenever she opened her mouth to sing."

Lucy's breathing got heavier, but Dan's face remained intact. "But what really gave it away... was your face when you found out we were nominated for a Grammy." They were inches apart now, and Lucy was certain Dan could hear her heart thumping out of her chest. "You were crying... and knowing you, you were going to try your best to not show anyone because you hate crying in front of people. You think it shows weakness."

In true fashion of his words, Lucy was fiercely blinking away tears. Even in disappearance, Dan knew Lucy - the _real_ Lucy. Whether she was faking her disappearance, or whether she was right in front of him like she now was... he knew her.

"Tell me. Tell me it's you."

* * *

 **I'm gonna try my best to update more frequently. It's gonna be a challenge, but I'm going to finish this story before the summer ends. And we're getting somewhere! Love you all! Thank you for your love and support.**

 **I wanted to do something for you - something special. If you want to ask me ONE thing about the plot - any one thing at all, PM me, and let me know what it is that you want to know. I will only take the first five PMs, so be sure to be early! Happy reading everyone!**


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